LAKELAND Fla. – Florida Southern notched the go-ahead goal in the 72^nd minute before fending off Nova Southeastern 1-0 in each team's respective Sunshine State Conference opener Wednesday night. The Sharks have now been shutout in consecutive matches, and drop to 2-3 overall on the season.
 
Head coach Matt Watt's club forced the action on the offensive side of the pitch, tallying 13 corner kicks in the effort, but were repeatedly turned away by the sound performance from Moccasins' keeper Cole Clingerman. Clingerman notched a game-high seven saves en route to his second clean sheet in 2016.
 
The Sharks appeared primed to grasp early control in the 12^th minute following a great look at the goal by Viktor Jonsson, but Clingerman made the timely play to keep Nova Southeastern off the board.
 
Once again in the 26^th minute, Jonsson wiggled free from the defense, only to see his strike sail high over the crossbar.
 
Nova Southeastern held a 6-4 corner kick advantage and outshot the Mocs by a 9-7, yet the match remained scoreless at halftime.
 
Midway through the second half, Nova Southeastern continued to test Clingerman and the back line of the Mocs. In a two minute span, the Sharks earned three corner kicks. However, both Bestun Mohammed and Jonathan Padjen saw each of their shot attempts denied.
 
Just as NSU knocked on the door for the go-ahead goal, Florida Southern's Joseph Ammer countered with his first score of the season from the right wing to give the Mocs the slight lead over the Sharks.
 
NSU pushed forward for one last gasp, earning a corner in the waning seconds of the match, but wasn't able to capitalize on the last-ditch effort.
 
Sharks' keeper Nico Rosiglioni recorded four saves in the loss, including a key stop on a penalty kick in the 89^th minute to keep NSU within striking distance.
 
NSU will look to get back on track Saturday at 7 p.m. ET when it welcomes No. 21 Tampa to the NSU Soccer Complex.