Box Score BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s soccer team (3-3-0) took another tough loss Wednesday, falling to the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish (7-0-0), 1-0, at the NSU Soccer Complex.
Shark fans had a bit of déjà vu, as the outcome nearly reflected the Sharks’ first loss of the season against Florida Southern one week prior. The Sharks dominated the match offensively but never scored a goal. NSU took 22 shots in the match, which would have been a season high in 2011, and registered 10 on-goal. It was all for not, as PBA sent in the dagger on a shot from Charlie Hubbard in the 74th minute.
Neither team found the net in the first half, but NSU was the more active team on offense. The Sharks had nine shots to PBA’s one, with three of them coming on goal. NSU’s best opportunity to score in the first half came in the 33rd minute.
Sharif Shears (Fr., Davie, Fla.) to a shot in the box that bounced off the crossbar.
Juan Rodriguez (Fr., Lima, Peru) received the rebound, and in a scramble sent his shot wide.
Nicola Brivio (Fr., Gallarte, Italy) also had an opportunity in the final 10 seconds of the first half, but PBA made a crucial save to send the match into a halftime-tie.
The first 20 minutes of the second half saw the same result for the Sharks, but the home squad was much more accurate. All four of their shots were on goal, including a dart from
Riccardo Bini (Fr., Varese, Italy), which barely caught the keepers fingers and went off the crossbar. Bini would end the day with a team-best mark of eight shots, half of which were on target.
After the goal came with just over 15 minutes left, the Sharks stepped up the tempo on offense and forced PBA to make three saves down the stretch. NSU also had two solid strikes that were blocked in the final 15 minutes. Their final opportunities came on two separate corner kicks in the final 90 seconds. However, NSU did not get a clean look at the goal on either attempt.
In the end, the Sharks limited PBA, a team that ranked 7th in the nation in scoring offense, to seven shots with three on-goal. Kenny Hogg, who entered the game as the NCAA Division-II leader with 2.33 goals per game, was held to one shot-on-goal.
The Sharks will hit the road this weekend, looking to avoid falling under .500, as they face Eckerd in St. Petersburg, Fla. Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
clicking here.
