LAKELAND, Fla. – Coming off a tough loss to Barry on Wednesday, ending their program-best eight-game winning streak, the Nova Southeastern men's soccer team needed a strong bounce-back performance Saturday against No. 8 Florida Southern. That's exactly what they got, as the Sharks defeated the Moccasins 4-0 and continue to hold onto a share of first place in the Sunshine State Conference standings.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 4, Florida Southern 0
Records: Nova Southeastern (9-2, 5-1 SSC), Florida Southern (9-2, 4-2 SSC)
Location: Moccasin Field | Lakeland, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The aggressive offense, which has been a focal point of the team's success this season, wasted no time at all displaying one of the tools in their arsenal, as Sebastian Loibl drove right at the Mocs' keeper for the game's first shot just 20 seconds after kickoff.
• Although the initial shot was off the mark, Loibl, the conference leader in goals, points and shots, would soon get another bite of the apple. In the 19^th minute, Aleks Berg intercepted an inbounds toss deep in opposing territory and handed it over to Loibl, who deked the keeper to give him a direct lane to the back of the net.
• Less than a minute later, Loibl had a hand in the Sharks' second goal of the game, sending a perfect cross from the right side to Darwin Lom. Lom headed it in and the Sharks turned a tied match into a two-goal lead in the span of 50 seconds.
• The Sharks held the lead going into halftime, but found their second wind during the break. In the 48^th minute, Berg earned his second assist of the match, playing the ball into the box, where he found Bradley Fountain to push the lead out to 3-0.
• Once again, the offense capitalized on the momentum from their previous goal to add another. After a yellow card was issued to a Mocs player, Ignacio Goya recovered the ball and passed it to Curtis Thorn and onto Aleks Berg, waiting back inside the box to accept the pass and drive it home, bringing the game to its final score.
• With the sizeable lead in hand, the offense was able to take a step back, attempting only two more shots, both of which were off the leg of Berg in the three minutes following his goal. The Mocs were responsible for all five shots during the last 38 minutes of the match, but Sharks goalkeeper Brian Lopez made two saves to seal the deal on the shutout.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Loibl's goal, his 10^th of the season, makes him just the fifth player to reach the double-digit mark since the Sharks joined the SSC as full members in 2004 and the first since 2010. The selective list he is now a member of also includes Adam Ludden and 2017 NSU Sharks Hall of Fame inductee Romain Onteniente, who both hold the NCAA-era, single-season record of 18 from their 2004 and 2007 seasons, respectively, as well as David Wahlberg (13, 2008) and current professional player Aly Hassan, who tallied 11 goals each in 2007 and 2010.
• Loibl's assist, meanwhile, gives him 25 points on the year, making him one of six members of the program's single-season quarter-century club since 2004. If he reaches the 30-point mark, he'll become the fourth in the NCAA era.
• Berg's two assists add to what was already a conference-leading number, and his new total of nine puts him three ahead of anyone else. It's already the highest total by any Shark since 2008, when Onteniente recorded 11 and Wahlberg had nine, and is also tied for sixth in program history over the last 25 years, dating back to 1994.
• With their fifth SSC win of the season, the Sharks match the record first set by the 2004 team (5-2-1) and tied just last year by the 2017 squad (5-5). They also improved to 4-1 on the road this season, their best record since the 2004 group, as well, that was 7-1-1 away from the NSU Soccer Complex.
• The Sharks improve to 2-0 against ranked opponents this season, their first win coming over No. 19 Florida Tech on Sept. 26. This was their first win over a Top-10 nationally-ranked team since they took down No. 6 Lynn, 4-1, at the NSU Soccer Complex on Sept. 18, 2013.

STATS OF THE NIGHT:

• The Sharks outshot the Mocs 12-8 in the match, including 7-3 in the first half. Of their 12 shots, the Sharks had seven on target, while the Mocs had just three. Each team's keeper made three saves.
• Lom, having already matched his 2016 point total of 13 four games ago, scored his seventh goal of the season to exceed last season's tally in three fewer games. He has logged at least one point in all but two of the team's 11 matches this season.
• In assisting on Berg's goal, Thorn and Goya both picked up their fourth helpers of the season, placing them in a four-way tie with Lom and Jan Luca Ahillen for third-most on the team. Goya and Thorn also both recorded their third assists in last Saturday's win over Rollins.
• Lopez earned the first shutout of his career in just his third game, and the team's fifth overall on the season. He improved his save percentage to .769 and his goals-against average to just 1.05 in the nearly 257 minutes he has seen on the field over the last three matches.
• Loibl, Lom and Berg are all among the Top-5 on the SSC's points leaderboard. No other team has more than two players within the Top-13.

UP NEXT:
The Sharks will have an additional opportunity to prove their mettle against ranked opposition when they host the second-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish in yet another battle for SSC supremacy. For complete coverage of the action, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com.