ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The No. 7 Nova Southeastern University women's soccer team fell to the Eckerd Tritons on Saturday night, their first Sunshine State Conference defeat and road loss of the season.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Eckerd 2, Nova Southeastern 1 (2 OT)
Records: Nova Southeastern (10-3-1, 6-1-1 SSC), Eckerd (6-6, 5-4 SSC)
Location: Johnson Field | St. Petersburg, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Tritons struck first when Abby Sanchez, after being honored in Eckerd's pre-game Senior Day celebration, scored on a direct kick from 22 yards out in the 11th minute.
- Despite a 10-2 shot advantage, the Sharks came out of halftime facing the same 1-0 deficit. Hannah Christophe changed all that with an equalizer in the 63rd minute.
- After three saves from each side for the rest of the half, regulation ended in a 1-1 tie. The Sharks had the only shot of the first overtime period, by Adanna Edwards in the 99th minute, but Tritons goalkeeper Casey Winn made the stop.
- Eckerd scored midway through the 101st minute, again from Abby Sanchez, who took a pass in the box, spun around a defender and snuck the ball inside the right post.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- With Christophe's third goal of the season tonight, the Sharks now have six players with three or more goals this year and 13 goal scorers overall.
- The Sharks entered this match with a record of 11-0-2 in SSC matches against Eckerd, outscoring the Tritons 34-4, and a 12-1-3 mark in the last 16 meetings in the series history, dating back to the 2004 season.
- The Sharks' loss is the first in St. Petersburg since September 10, 2003.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- Monica Orteu had a game-high seven shots for the Sharks, while Kayla Gray led the Tritons with six.
- Christophe came off the bench for just the second time this season, but still logged 78 minutes. She scored her first goal as a reserve since September 7, 2016, when she scored the second goal of her young career against Florida Memorial.
- Coming off a season-low eight shots, and three on goal against Barry, the Sharks tallied 21 and 10 as a team versus the Tritons. Saturday was their ninth match this season with 20 or more shots and their sixth with 10 or more on goal, leading to their SSC-best averages of 20.3 and 9.2, respectively.
UP NEXT:
The Sharks return home to welcome the Lynn Fighting Knights to the NSU Soccer Complex on Wednesday. For complete coverage of the action, visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com.