A pair of goals less than three minutes apart early in the second half proved to be the difference on Sunday afternoon as Lourdes rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Cleary 2-1 at Page Field in Howell, Mich.
 
Trailing 1-0 at the break, Jake Kirchoff-Sleet (Tamworth, England/Queen Elizabeth's Mercian H.S.) tied the contest with a shot from outside the top of the box that beat Cougar goalkeeper Marc Hodges just 3:19 into the second half.
 
Carlos Viganoni (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Western H.S.) helped put the Gray Wolves in front just 2:50 later, sending a long pass ahead to Kevin Omore (Abidjan, Ivory Coast/Saint Jean Bosco and Farandole Internationale H.S.), who sent a blast into the back of the net from the top of the box.
 
"This was a good test for us," head coach Barry Spitzer said afterwards.  "I'm proud of the team for keeping their composure and staying with the game plan.  We chipped away to come up with the two goals that we needed."
 
Cleary (3-5-1) had a chance to tie the match with about 21 minutes remaining as Daniel Hector Lora was free on a breakaway, but his shot just slid outside the post.  The Gray Wolves also cleared a ball off the backline with under three minutes to play to preserve the win.
 
Johnny Cabral put Cleary in front with 4:33 to play before halftime, scoring from 15 yards out after receiving a pass from Josh Almeida.
 
The Cougars outshot Lourdes 13-11 for the contest, with both sides tallying five shots on frame.  Jose Cedillo (Atlanta, Ga./Norcross H.S.) and Hodges each made three saves in goal for their respective squads.
 
Lourdes (5-0) will open Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday evening as the Gray Wolves host Davenport.  Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium.