Diego Pereira (Asuncion, Paraguay/Cristo Rey) scored twice, including the match-winner with just 27 remaining, as Lourdes defeated Bethel (Ind.) 4-3 on Wednesday evening at Morey Field in Mishawaka, Ind. to improve to 3-0 on the season.
 
With the match deadlocked and time winding down, Pereira took advantage of a Bethel turnover near midfield, moved up the left side, and fired far post from 25 yards out, finding the back of the net to keep the Gray Wolves unbeaten on the season.
 
"This was a crazy game," head coach Matt Johnson said afterwards.  "Bethel is a really good team that played at a high tempo for 90 minutes.  We had to really grind to stay in it.  We scored a couple of fantastic goals and were fortunate on a couple of others."
 
Lourdes took the lead with 17:06 to play in the first half.  Following a foul just outside the penalty area, Leon Eisert (Leipzig, Germany/Kathe-Kollwitz Gymnasium) curled a shot around the wall for his team-leading fourth goal of the season after the restart from Farouk Amoo (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood H.S.).
 
The Gray Wolves took the 1-0 lead into intermission, despite being outshot 6-3 over the opening 45 minutes.
 
Hussein Sbeiti (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn H.S.) began a 20-minute flurry of offense between the two schools just over 10 minutes into the second half.  He ran onto a feed through the middle by Ariel Ramirez Rios (San Lorenzo, Paraguay/Colegio Aula Vira) and scored his third goal of the year to put the Gray Wolves in front 2-0.
 
The Pilots' Luan Bressy put the hosts on the scoreboard just over two minutes later, cutting the Lourdes lead in half.  Joao de Oliveira tied the match at two with 21:24 to play.
 
Pereira, making his Lourdes debut on the evening, scored his first goal as a Gray Wolf with 16:58 to play in regulation to put the visitors back in front.  The lead was short-lived however, as de Oliveira retied the contest less than three minutes later, setting the stage for the final minute.
 
Bethel (2-2) outshot the Gray Wolves 17-8 for the match, but Igor Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Pentagono) made five saves between the posts for Lourdes in the win.
 
"We are happy with the win, but have lots of work to do moving forward with a difficult game coming up at Georgetown," Johnson concluded.
 
Lourdes continues its season-opening five-match road trip on Saturday evening, as the Gray Wolves travel to Georgetown, Ky. to face the Tigers of Georgetown (Ky.).  Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. inside of Toyota Stadium.