CHICAGO, Ill. -- The University of Chicago men's soccer team took down #17 UW-Eau Claire in come-from-behind fashion with four goals in the final 50 minutes to pick up a 4-2 win over Blugolds.

Following a two-hour delay to start the match due to the UW-Eau Claire bus breaking down, the two teams took the pitch under the lights in a big non-conference showdown. The suspense of how the delay would affect both squads did not take long to be answered as the Blugolds scored the first goal just 83 seconds into the contest off a bicycle kick in the six-yard box off a corner kick to give UW-Eau Claire the 1-0 lead. Then, seven minutes later, a foul in the box gave the Blugolds a chance to double their lead, and they did not miss.

The Blugolds had another golden chance in the 27th minute after a foul just outside of the box set up a free kick opportunity, but Ali Alamery made his first big save of the game with a full-extension save to his left.

The first chance of the game for the Maroons came in the 42nd minute when Juan Carlos Bermudez whipped in a cross into the middle of the pitch. Chase Perry's header had eyes for the bottom corner, but the UW-Eau Claire keeper dove to his left to keep the Maroons off the board. However, on the ensuing corner kick, Edward Wu played it short to Max Weene who played it back to Wu who found the head of Kai Walsh to cut the lead in half late in the first period.

The late first half goal lit a fire under the Maroons coming out of the locker room, and they quickly found the equalizer in the 49th minute when Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey connected with William Stewart on a long ball ahead, and Stewart beat his defender and buried the left-footed strike into the far post to level the score at two.

The game changed completely for both sides in the 55th minute as a foul just outside the box resulted in a DOGSO red card on UW-Eau Claire to put the Blugolds down to 10 men for the remainder of the contest, and the Maroons would take advantage. However, both teams would have to wait an additional 20 minutes after the lights went out at Stagg Field to cause another delay to already long day for both sides.

In the 70th minute, the Maroons found the go-ahead goal as Kai Walsh maneuvered around the UW-Eau Claire defenders and stayed with the play before lofting a cross to the front post, finding the head of Hsieh-Bailey who buried the game-winner.

Five minutes later in the 75th minute, UChicago had another free kick opportunity from outside the 18, and Wu ripped a shot to the right. The Blugold keeper made the save, but spilled the ball away, and Weene tapped home the goal to double the lead to 4-2.

The two-goal comeback for the Maroons marks the first time since 2019 that UChicago came back from a two-goal deficit to win the game. The win is also the first top-25 win for the Maroons since they took down #1 St. Olaf 2-0 in the season opener, and it is the sixth ranked win in the Coach Kroft era for the Maroons.

Ali Alamery made four saves in goal with an impressive performance in the final 80 minutes of action, and Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey led the team with 3 shots.

With the win, the Maroons improve to 3-1-3 on the season. UChicago will return to action on Wednesday, September 24 as they travel to Albion to take on the Britons.