Box Score JACKSON, Miss.  –  Nova Southeastern appeared as if it had enough in the tank to shake off the weather and a one-goal deficit at the intermission following Filippo Mancini's strike midway through the second half of Thursday night's season opener against Mississippi College. However, the Choctaws' Marco Profumo erased the tie by finding the back of the net in the 87^th minute as the Sharks fell in gut-wrenching fashion, 2-1.   

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Mississippi College 2, Nova Southeastern 1
Records: Mississippi College (1-0, 0-0 GSC), Nova Southeastern (0-1, 0-0 SSC)
Location: Jackson, Miss.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Following a near-even first 44 minutes to open the match, Mississippi College's Connor Johnson beat Sharks' keeper Jack Howard just seconds before the halftime whistle sounded to give the Choctaws a 1-0 edge at halftime.
• The Sharks nearly dug themselves into a 2-0 deficit, but remained within striking distance thanks to a spectacular kick save by Howard in the 59^th minute.
• The momentum soon shifted following Howard's effort when Mancini froze the Mississippi College keeper in the 66^th minute with a left-footed free kick from the edge of the box that sent the Shark bench into a frenzy.
• Both sides battled back-and-forth with respective scoring chances until Profumo used his speed to beat the last Nova Southeastern defender to bury the game-winner.   
   

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Five newcomers made their Nova Southeastern debuts in the effort, including three freshman in Lucas Dessoliers, Jake Geyer and Andre Zabala.
• Each of Mississippi College's goals were scored within the final four minutes of each half. 
• Profumo also notched a goal against the Sharks in last year's regular season debut.

 
STATS OF THE NIGHT:

• In net for the Sharks on Thursday, Howard recorded five saves. The senior tallied just 11 saves in all of 2016.
• The Sharks' misfortunes in one-goal matches continued in tonight's opener after compiling a 4-6 record in such games a year ago.
• Following a combined 10 shots in the first half, both teams fired off 21 attempts in the final 45 minutes.

 
UP NEXT:
Nova Southeastern will continue its season-opening road trip on Saturday in a neutral-site contest versus Delta State at 2:30 p.m. ET. Sharks' head coach Matt Watts spent two seasons at Delta State, leading the Statesmen to their first-ever Gulf South Conference Tournament final in 2012. For complete coverage of the action, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com.