College of DuPage, Illinois, USA - Hellenic United O30 successfully defended their National Soccer Lead lead on Saturday, beating top placed co-hosts Wisla SAC 2-1.
After falling behind in the first period, HUAC answered with two goals and kept Wisla scoreless the rest of the way to secure the win.
But it was far from plain sailing for the home side, who had to come from behind and struggled to cope with Wisla's physical style throughout the encounter.
HUAC got off to a very slow start and allowed Wisla to stamp their authority on proceedings early on.
It was a wake up call for HUAC who were still struggling to find any real rhythm, but were back on level terms just after the half-hour mark.
While Wisla persisted with their physical, but effective up and under routine, HUAC profited from a lovely passing move.
HUAC midfielder Terry Cirbo picked out Flores with the deftest of weighted passes and the HUAC forward with equally assured measure headed the ball over the onrushing Wisla keeper slotting the ball into the empty net.
Whatever words of wisdom took place during the break seemed to pay dividends, with HUAC appearing far more lively after the restart.
HUAC pressed and harried the visitors, adding an attacking impetus that they had rarely shown in the opening period.
Their fresh approach was rewarded on 74 minutes as they took the lead for the first time in the game.
The Wisla goalkeeper failed to clear the ball after a back-pass from his defender and HUAC midfielder Petros Ninis benefited by making a slick move to his left leaving the goalie behind him but as soon as he was ready to slot the ball in front of an empty net the wet field conditions attributed to him slipping to the ground. As all hope was lost Ninis stretched his leg and kicked the ball towards an oncoming Mario Mele who had no problem slotting the ball in the middle of the net.
HUAC continued to pressure the Wisla rearguard with constant attacks into the area, winning numerous corners.
"We were much better in the second half but, until then, we couldn't cope with Wisla physically," said HUAC coach Yiannis Kosmas.
"I like the effort put forward by our team today after being down 1-0. We really bounced back and came out with the win," said HUAC midfielder Phil Lencioni.
"We were troubled by their physical play during the first 20 minutes of the game but we really had not problem after they scored their goal against us. We took the game to Wisla, we took control in the midfield and we won. Today was just a win as we still have a lot of games left ahead of us," said HUAC coach Spiro Arsenis.
Lineup: Andreas Papakostas (GK), Alex Javaras, Gus Vellios, Yannie Moraitis, Giuseppe Rivetti, Petros Ninis, Phil Lencioni, Alan Hernandez, Mario Mele, Louis Flores, Dimitri Pagonis
Subs: Mario Mamalis, Terry Cirbo, George Zarafonitis, Dan Kralj, Bill Javaras, Jeff Samels, Spiro Arsenis, Nick Penesis, George Panagakis
Game Summary
1:1 Louis Flores 30'
2:1 Mario Mele 74'