EMMITSBURG, Md. – Zoncher Dennis (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) scored two goals to lift Mount St. Mary's past Long Island 3-2 in Northeast Conference (NEC) men's soccer action on Sunday.

Dennis scored in the 39th minute to give the Mount (5-5-1, 2-2-0 NEC) the lead for good and then sealed the win with a tally in the 87th minute. The freshman, who leads the team with nine goals, has found the twine in five games this season and has recorded the game-winner in four of those contests.

Senior Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis Xavier) tallied a goal and an assist to tie the program's Mount Division I career point mark with 80. Matthew Steele (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) and Ian Hendrie (Potomac, Md./St. Andrews Episcopal School) each added an assist in the winning effort.

Rommel Forde paced the Blackbirds (3-6-3, 1-2-1 NEC) with a goal and an assist. Josh Maley also found the twine while Adam Janssen made three saves in the loss.

Thanks to a pair of goals from Dennis, Mount St. Mary's took the lead and held on for the victory to end a two-game losing streak. The Mount improved to 5-1 at Waldron Family Stadium this season.

After Long Island tied the game at 1, the Mountaineers looked to its leading scorer to regain the advantage. Hendrie had his shot blocked, but was able to get the ball back and passed it to Dennis, who found the twine in the high netting at 38:37 for a 2-1 edge.

Dennis then sealed the win with what proved to be the eventual game-winner late in the second half. Wheeler was able to get the ball ahead to the freshman from midfield and then Dennis beat the goalkeeper to increase the lead to 3-1 at 86:49. With the assist, Wheeler tied Mark Southern's (80, 1994-97) Division I points mark.

The Blackbirds answered almost three minutes later when Maley notched his second goal of the season off a Forde helper with 41 seconds left, but Long Island could not get another shot off and Mount St. Mary's came away with the victory to end a two-game skid against the Brooklyn program.

The Mount jumped out to a quick 1-0 edge in the first 30 seconds of the match. Steele served the ball from the right to Wheeler, who found the netting from 14-yards out. It was the squad's fastest goal since Wheeler posted a tally 18 seconds into a match against Bryant on Oct. 22, 2010.

The Blackbirds rallied to knot the game at 1 when Forde scored off a pass from Jakeem Johnson at 22:10, but Dennis scored twice for the Mountaineers to secure the victory.

Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Friday night at Sacred Heart. Match time is 7 p.m.