When men’s soccer coach Eric Nichols secured the signature of young Ryan Comiskey during a recruiting season last October, he knew the young forward had the potential to be a special player.

The promise Nichols saw in the Pennsylvania native was put on full display Saturday night in Boca Raton, Fla., as Comiskey scored the game- winning goal with 22 minutes remaining in a ‘win or go home’ game against Florida Atlantic University.

The 2-1 victory was surely the team’s most important of the year, as the result assured the Falcons would go on to the Mid-American Conference tournament as the third seed, where they will face Western Michigan University.

“A lot was riding on this game, with the travel and both teams needing a win to get a spot into the conference semi-finals, it was a tall order,” Nichols said as he was boarding a plane to fly back home Sunday evening. “We approached the situation really well, we weren’t tight, we were determined, and we played well.”

Sophomore Joey D’Agostino got the Falcons off to a flying start as he nodded home a Max Weston corner kick just three minutes into the game to give the Falcons a one nil lead. The goal was D’Agostino’s second of the year, and the second of his Falcon career.

Weston, a junior winger, has stepped up for the Falcons this year, leading the team in goals (4), assists (5) and total points (13).

“We knew it was going to be a battle from the start, both teams were playing for their season,” Weston said. “We were firing on all cylinders out there, [this] really helped us get the win.”

FAU was able to find an answer to D’Agostino’s quick strike in the 25th minute, as forward Darnell King found the net for the fourth time this season, bending a 20-yard shot into the top right corner of the Falcon net to equalize.

The Falcons could have settled for a draw, as any result but a loss would have seen them through to the tournament, but a win would assure they would avoid No.1 Akron in the first round.

As play opened in the second half, it was evident the Falcons were not content to leave Florida with a draw.

Junior goalkeeper Miguel Rosales was outstanding again, making three saves for the Falcons, who have allowed one goal or less in seven games this season, posting four shutouts along the way.

With Rosales and the defensive back four in fine form, the Falcons turned to highly touted Comiskey to find a match winner, and with 22 minutes left on the clock, that’s exactly what the big striker did, converting a Zach Lemke cross into the net for the game-winning goal.

“Dusko [Topolic] and Lemke had a nice combination going on the sideline and Zach sent in a perfect cross to my feet,” Comiskey said. “I’m glad I got myself in front of the goal in time to redirect it into the net.”

“I was really excited to score the goal that helped us secure our spot in the MAC tournament and extend the season for our upperclassmen.”

With the win the Falcons pull even with the University of Buffalo, both finishing with identical 3-3 records in conference.

Because the Falcons beat the Bulls earlier this season 2-0, they were awarded the tiebreaker on the head-to-head result, giving the Falcons the third seed in the tournament bracket.

With the win, the Falcons (6-8-3) end the regular season with their best record in seven years, when the team finished 8-10-5, with a .457 winning percentage.

The season’s success becomes even clearer with the challenges the Falcons faced in losing six seniors to graduation, including five starters.

With all three of last season’s top scorers having graduated during the offseason, including co-captains Jacob Lawrence and Hunter Van Houten as well as leading goal scorer Cameron Hepple (10), the Falcons were forced to make changes to the team’s entire structure, which meant new players, 12 in all, including an astounding 11 freshmen.

Nichols was so confident in his young players; the coach would routinely field a starting 11 with up to seven freshman and first year players on the field.

The third place finish in the conference is especially impressive, as the team was expected to end the season in sixth place according to the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.

But one late goal with 22 minutes remaining in the Falcons’ season, the young team turned what was going to be a solid season into one of the best in recent memory. 

The Falcons now travel to Akron’s Lee Jackson Field Friday where they face off against the No. 2 seed Western Michigan Broncos at 8 p.m.

The Broncos will prove a tough test for the Falcons, as they have already beaten BG 2-0 in a regular season contest earlier this year at Cochrane Field.

The winner of that contest will face the winner of the first semifinal, which will see the top-seeded Zips face fourth-seeded Buffalo. Akron, the defending MAC regular season and conference champion, are favorites to repeat that feat this year.