St. Francis Brooklyn celebrates its first NCAA win since 1978. (Photo courtesy of St. Francis Brooklyn)

WILMINGTON, N.C. – El Mahdi Youssoufi scored the late equalizer and set up Ivan Tapuskovic’s winning goal in extratime to lift St. Francis Brooklyn to a 2-1 comeback win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the opening round of the NCAA Division I tournament at UNCW Soccer Stadium Thursday night.

The Terriers (7-1-1) earned their first win in the NCAA tourney since 1978 when they defeated Adelphi University in the first round and then Columbia University in the Sweet Sixteen, before falling to Clemson University in the Elite Eight.

St. Francis Brooklyn became the first Northeast Conference men’s soccer program to advance to the second round since 2012, when Fairleigh Dickinson University defeated St. John’s University. The Terriers also were also the first NEC team to record a win in the NCAA College Cup since FDU.

The Brooklyn side faces third-seeded Indiana University the second rouund Sunday at 5 p.m.

The Panthers (8-5-0) struck first on a penalty kick by Raul Medina in the 62nd minute.

Youssoufi equalized with a header with only 68 seconds remaining in regulation. Senior defender Domenico Pugliese sent the ball down the wing to Tapuskovic, who headed it the ball home for a 1-1 deadlock.

In the 105th minute, Youssoufi beat two defenders on the right flank and crossed the ball to Tapuskovic, who scored a Golden Goal to conclude the contest.

“Our opponent had six seniors and four juniors in their starting lineup,” Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman said. “A big, strong, physical team; very direct. It’s challenging and is a tough style of soccer to play against. I thought we had our chances to come out of here victorious and the ball just bounced their way today.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.