WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Goals by junior midfielders Gabriel Cavalcante and Flavio Guzman in the final 13 minutes of regulation lifted the top-ranked Midwestern State men's soccer team to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over No. 6 St. Edward's Thursday night in front of 1,257 fans at MSU Soccer Field.

After the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead into halftime, St. Edward's (7-1-2) recorded goals from sophomore midfielder Grant Mobley and sophomore forward Samuel Jackson to take a 2-1 advantage in the 69th minute.

With Midwestern State (8-0-1) desperately searching for the equalizer, Cavalcante came through for the Mustangs with his fourth score of the season, taking a pass from junior forward Christian Okeke into the middle of the box before firing past St. Edward's senior goalkeeper Kevin Leib to even the match at 2-2 with 12:05 remaining.

In the 87th minute, Guzman propelled the Mustangs back in front with his first game winner of the season, taking a shot from the middle of the box off a pass by senior forward Albert Rodriguez to make it a 3-2 contest.

"That was a nice goal to finish it off," said head coach Doug Elder. "Flavio did a great job of faking it and got the guy frozen and touched it and buried it. It was a great goal."

The Hilltoppers were unable to get a shot off in the final three and a half minutes as the Mustangs completed the comeback thriller.

"I'm real proud of the guys," Elder said. "I thought we gave up two soft goals in the second half but didn't put our heads down and kept attacking and creating chances, and I felt like it was going to come. When we tied it up, we had a little energy and emotion. This is a great team we played today. They worked and pressured and created some chances. We beat a very good team. They're No. 6 for a reason."

St. Edward's, the nation's top defense coming into today, had allowed just one goal this season which came on a penalty kick against Colorado Mines back on Sept. 13.

However, it didn't take long for the Mustangs to get on the scoreboard. In the 16th minute, Okeke found senior midfielder Juan Farres on the left side of the box before Farres sent a rocket into the right side of the net to give the Maroon and Gold a 1-0 advantage.

The Midwestern State defense held the Hilltoppers without a shot on goal in the first period while allowing the visitors to fire just four attempts.

For the match, Midwestern State finished with a 19-9 edge in shots and 11-4 advantage in shots on goal while the Hilltoppers led 6-4 in corner kicks.

Guzman and Rodriguez each tallied five shots to lead the Mustangs with Guzman posting a team-best four on goal.

For the Hilltoppers, sophomore midfielder Pablo Covarrubias had team-high three shots with one on target.

Sophomore goalkeeper Richard Goss (2-0-1) earned the win after allowing two goals and collecting two saves in his first career start for the Mustangs between the posts. Leib (6-1-2) was handed the loss for the Hilltoppers after giving up three scores and recording eight saves.

Midwestern State will next take on Eastern New Mexico in a noon kickoff Sunday at ENMU Soccer Field in Portales.