KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Late on in an evenly matched contest, Kansas Wesleyan reversed the game flow of the second half and poached a game-winner with eight minutes on the clock, continuing what's been a resurgent season for the Coyotes (8-3-1, 5-1-1 KCAC) and extending the recent struggles for the Eagles (2-10-1, 1-6-1 KCAC) with a 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at The Z.

Kansas Wesleyan has orchestrated an incredible turnaround in just one season, and this year's Coyotes are not the team the Eagles trounced 7-2 last year in Salina in one of the most lopsided wins in recent Avila history. KWU won just one conference game and two games total last season, but now, after Saturday, they've won eight, and looked primed to win a few more before all is said and done.

For a brief moment Saturday, the Coyotes looked like they could run away with the game. Just minutes into the game, Eduardo Flores and Ali Nundu linked up and played in veteran Kamille Kum for a nice finish to get the visitors on the board early. Avila conceded a goal inside of three minutes on Wednesday against Southwestern and inside of four minutes on Saturday.

In recent years, that might have been an early death sentence for the Eagles – but not this season. Instead, despite conceding the early goal, an Avila team with a short bench battled for the entire 90 minutes, and never let KWU get comfortable, and certainly never let the Coyotes extend the lead. Finally, and that good energy and positive momentum culminated in one strong drive: Malcolm Goswell cut into the box, drew a foul, and won a penalty kick, and stepped up to slot that PK past Santiago Pagnutti for his first goal of the season, leveling the score at one apiece in the 73^rd minute.

With the comeback completed, the Eagles looked to be flying high, and the home team kept circling, looking to capitalize on the chance and take the lead themselves. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Coyotes still had some gas left in the tank, and that manifested in a nice run and finish from Nundu with just about eight minutes left in regulation – KWU had regained the lead, and this time, there was not enough time for Avila to recover. Kansas Wesleyan pulled out the 2-1 win with the late goal.

Avila goalkeeper Johnathan Fager did all he could to give his team a chance, making nine saves in the defeat, including three in the final five-plus minutes after Nundu had put the Coyotes back in front. Pagnutti finished with four saves on the other end, including a pair on AJ Rankin, who was a bright spot offensively for the Eagles for the second straight game.