Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A fierce defensive struggle came down to the wire as the Eckerd College men's soccer team gave Florida Southern College all it could handle in defeat to mark the beginning of Sunshine State Conference play, falling 2-3, on Saturday night.
FSC's Ashley Holmes scored a pair of goals off a corner kick and a penalty kick and SSC points leader Zach Hofstetter padded his league-leading totals with another goal and an assist.
EC's Daniel Lopez scored off a long, bending free kick that curled into the top right corner from 25 yards out and Holmes inadvertently contributed to the Tritons' scoring cause by deflecting a ball into his own net.
But the Tritons (4-2, 0-1 SSC) had the Mocs (4-1, 1-0 SSC) on their heels until the end, pressuring Florida Southern's defense into several opportune scoring chances down the stretch in an attempt to net the equalizer.
“It was a battle until the very end,” EC Head Coach Steve Magee said. “We had a lot of opportunities on corner kicks and some of the bounces just didn't go our way tonight. Our guys fought hard and that's all I can ask for.”
The 6-4 Holmes skied above everyone to drill home the first goal, a corner kick in the 36th minute delivered by Hofstetter. Holmes was then called upon to take a penalty kick after an Eckerd foul was called inside the box.
Holmes aimed low right and his shot skidded on the turf to the back of the net off the dead-ball set, his fifth goal of the season.
Eckerd goalkeeper Toni Virtanen was penalized for kicking outside of the box and Hoffstetter made the Tritons pay inside 15 minutes left in regulation with an indirect boot.
Lopez brought the Tritons to the one-goal margin with under three minutes to go, but the Mocs defense stopped shots by Anthony Arico and Sawyer Frank.
A total of 33 fouls were whistled and seven yellow cards were issued.
The Tritons continue their four-game homestand by hosting Clearwater Christian next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
