Langhorne, PA - Forty seconds. That's all the time the Cairn men's soccer team needed on Tuesday afternoon to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1, instant classic, victory over Lancaster Bible College.
 
The Highlanders trailed the Chargers 1-0 into the 84th minute until Cairn turned the game on its head in a little under a minute. First it was Joey Weaver hitting a right-footed volley off a bouncing ball at the top of the box that skipped past the keeper into the left-side of the net. Weaver's first goal of the season tied the game at 1-1.
 
Just 40 seconds later the Chargers attempted to regroup with a pass to their backline but no one was home and the pass was a perfect through-ball for Zack Nelson down the left-side. Nelson had all the time in the world and dribbled his way to the six before beating the keeper through his legs to give the Highlanders their first lead of the game at 2-1.
 
Now with the lead, the Highlanders had to hold on. It wasn't exactly easy, as Cairn keeper Mark Heater was called on to make his final save of the afternoon on a shot from the right-side. Heater kept it out and the Highlands went on for the 2-1 victory over their long-time rival.
 
The Highlanders had opportunities in the first-half to make the match a little less stressful. In the fourth minute it looked as if the Highlanders had stuck first when Nelson bent a beautiful ball to the left post for Brendan Keller. Keller went flying through the air and connected on a diving header that rattled off the right post and was eventually cleared by the Chargers' defense.
 
In the 35th minute Nelson again was involved in an opportunity with a look from the right-side. His attempt went wide left, eventually rolling out of play where the Chargers quickly picked up and, on a bit of a counter, found their goal behind a burst of speed from senior forward Marco Patz down the right-side.
 
In the 43rd minute the Highlanders again had a look at goal, this time for an equalizer, but Jordan Mahany's shot from about 22 yards went wide.
 
Heading to half-time the score stood 1-0 in favor of the Chargers despite the Highlanders leading 11-8 in shots.
 
After the break the majority of the second-half was played in the midfield with each team getting just a few chances. While the Highlanders did fire 11 shots in the final 45 minutes, the feel was not the sustained pressure that Cairn had put together in moments throughout the first-half.
 
"There's a lot of history between these two teams," said head coach Luke Gibson after the victory. "For us it's peaking at the right time and today was a step towards that. We talk about getting a little bit better every day. Today it was fun to see us do just that. Great result, but we teach process for a reason and we'll get back to getting a little better tomorrow."
 
The Highlanders will spend tomorrow, and the rest of the week, trying to get better at practice before traveling to Wesley College on Saturday for their next match against the Wolverines at 4:00 p.m. in Dover, Del.