FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's soccer team (3-2-0) returns home Wednesday to face provisional Sunshine State Conference members, the Embry-Riddle Eagles (1-2-0), at 7 p.m.
The Sharks enter the match after a 1-1 week, defeating Florida Southern at home, 4-0, before giving up a late penalty on the road against Tampa Saturday to fall, 1-0. In the win, the Sharks recorded their widest margin of victory in a SSC opening match. NSU won on goals from
Filippo Mancini (So., Genova, Italy),
Faycal Oulahbib (Jr., Paris, France) and
Soma Gubacsi (Fr., Budapest, Hungary), who chipped in a pair after entering in the 80th minute.
Saturday's match did not go as well, with the Sharks looking for points on the road against a tough Tampa squad. The game played out as an evenly matched contest, but the home team drew a penalty kick and converted in the 81st minute. The Sharks were close to equalizing on several occasions. Tampa cleared a ball off the line at one point, while Oulahbib had a close range header saved. Ultimately, the Sharks took their first loss of conference play.
The next two matches will not affect the Sharks' conference record, but will gear the team up when they return to SSC play against No. 1 Lynn. After hosting the Eagles, the Sharks will travel to Ave Maria on Saturday. That match, originally scheduled for 3 p.m., will now kickoff at 1 p.m.
For Wednesday, NSU renews one of its oldest rivalries against Embry-Riddle. The two schools who each come from the Sun Conference have faced off 23 times and have close to an even record against each other. After a decade of playing at a different level than NSU, Embry-Riddle enters its second year of provisional membership in the conference and has been placed on every SSC team's schedule in 2015-16. The Sharks' men's soccer team, along with the women's team that plays at Embry-Riddle, will have NSU's first crack at the Eagles this academic year.
The Eagles enter the match following a pair of shutout losses to Thomas, 1-0, and Barry, 3-0. The Eagles opened the season with a 3-1 win over Southeastern, but have not scored since that match. Junior Moriba Ballah scored twice against Southeastern and is the team's leader in shots at five.
Fans can follow along by clicking the live video and live stats links on the schedule page. Follow @NSUSharks on Twitter for updates throughout the night.
