Box Score
MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's soccer team (3-8-3, 0-6-1 SSC) fell to the Florida Tech Panthers (5-8-1, 2-5-0 SSC), 4-1, in a conference matchup Wednesday night, at Rick Stottler Field.
Four second half goals by the Panthers were the difference in a match that the Sharks had led, 1-0, heading into halftime.
The Sharks jumped out to an early lead, after
Viktor Jonsson (Fr., Reykjavik, Iceland) tallied the first goal of the match, with just under 29 minutes to play in the first half.
Nicola Brivio (So., Gallarte, Italy) did a great job taking the ball down the left side past a pair of FIT defenders and playing a perfect pass right on the foot of Jonsson. Jonsson capitalized on NSU's first shot attempt of the match, placing a one-timed shot into the bottom right corner just inside the post, past the diving goalkeeper Mitch Thorn.
The Sharks almost broke through again with 18 minutes until halftime, after another one-timed attempt, this time by
Austin Foor (Fr., Sunbury, Ohio). Foor received a high-bouncing ball into the box that he launched just over the crossbar.
Each team attempted five shots at the break.
Andrea Giombetti (Jr., Rome, Italy) made two saves on a couple of Panthers half chances.
FIT nearly netted the equalizer seven minutes into the second half, after a low cross from a set piece found the foot of the Panthers' TJ Peplinski. Peplinski attempted a shot from point-blank range, however, the ball found its way just past the near-left post.
The Panthers knotted up the match with 33:10 remaining in the half. Jack Willison scored on a free kick from about 25 yards out in the center of the field. The ball curled its way up and over the Sharks' wall and into back of the net to the right of the diving Giombetti.
FIT scored for the second time in the match, this time off a corner in the 67th minute from Sam Sawyer. Immediately following the goal, the Sharks went down to playing with nine men, after red cards were issued to Giombetti and
Erdi Guelac (So., Bavaria, Germany).
Four minutes later the Panthers extended the lead, after Adin Kavara scored on a one-on-one chance past newly entered goalkeeper
Jo Jien Lee (Fr., Kuala Lumper, Malaysia).
The Panthers tallied their fourth and final goal of the match, with 10 minutes to play, after a shot was deflected off a Shark defender, giving Lee no chance to recover to make a save.
The Sharks will now head back home for their final match of the season as they try to send their seniors out on a high note on senior day. The match will be the first of the doubleheader against Florida Southern at 5 p.m. at the NSU Soccer Complex.
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