Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s soccer team was eliminated from the 2010 Sunshine State Conference Men’s Soccer Championship by falling to the Tampa Spartans on the road Tuesday, 5-0.

The first half was eventful as Tampa (12-6-1) scored two goals on only four shots-on-goal. The first came from Ryan Griffin in the 18th minute off a free kick and the second came in the 28th minute when David Gulec rocketed the ball into a wide open net. Tampa played very efficient soccer in the opening half as only one of their five shots were off target. Even that shot just barely sailed over the crossbar.

On the other side of Tampa’s efficient game, the Sharks (8-6-2) controlled the action for most of the first half. The Sharks tripled the Spartans’ shot output with 15 and collected eight shots-on-goal, twice as many as the opposition.

The Sharks had their best chance to score in the first half with 15 minutes remaining. Aly Hassan (Sr., Weston, Fla.) took a shot from the left side of the box that bounced off the left post, into the crossbar and never passed the goal line. Over the remainder of the half the Sharks would take five shots on goal that were all saved.

The Spartans maintained their efficiency in the second half by scoring two more goals on their first three shots of the period. Three out of four NSU shots in the second half were on goal but they never got past goalkeeper David Niepel, who recorded a career-high 11 saves before he was pulled. With less than 10 minutes remaining, The Spartans scored the final goal of the game to make it 5-0, the worst loss of NSU’s season.

The Sharks combined for five saves in the match as Lyle Howe (So., Coral Springs, Fla.) claimed two and Nathan Cox (Fr., Fircrest, Wash.) claimed three over the final 24 minutes of the match. Hassan, Craig Heenighan (Sr., Widnes, England), Juan Gonzalez (Sr., Pompano Beach, Fla.), and Juan Rivera (Jr., Miami, Fla.) all had multiple shots-on-goal.