Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - When you keep knocking, someone is going to eventually answer.
In this instance it was the Eckerd College men's soccer team's relentless offensive attack responding to the call to back up a fortified defensive stand as it pitched a shutout against 24th-ranked Saint Leo University on Wednesday evening, 2-0.
Reserve sparkplug
Daniel Lopez made a highlight-reel worthy run while eluding several defenders down the middle of the field and
Turner Humphries capped off another great run from teammate by
Anthony Arico by drilling home a deflection.
“Defending won this game,” EC Head Coach Steve Magee said. “We went in with a game plan and were able to capitalize, but the all-around defensive play carried us tonight. This will help us push on because we've got two conference games in and six left.”
“Each game now from here on out carries importance like a (World) Cup final,” he added.
The Tritons (6-3, 1-1 SSC) crashed through the SLU back line and scored both of their goals in a quick four-minute span in the second half against the Lions (5-2, 1-2 SSC), who have been ranked high as No. 16 this season in the NCAA Div. II Top-25 Poll.
Eckerd also threw a wrench into the Sunshine State Conference standings and pending the outcome of two other league games tonight, the Tritons could very well be sitting in a tie for third.
But the shutdown effort by the Eckerd defense, already down junior
Matt Duffy from a red card stemming versus Palm Beach Atlantic University, kept the Lions out of sync up and down the field.
Arico maneuvered his way down the near side of the field by the Eckerd bench to force SLU goalkeeper McKenzy Scott to leave his feet for a diving save. The deflection was cleaned up by Humphries, who scored the eventual game winner in the 76th minute.
The diminutive Lopez brought a change of pace that caught Saint Leo off guard and some nifty moves led to misdirection on Scott as he scored unassisted at the 80:48 mark.
Lopez also had the Tritons in prime position for other scoring opportunities including his corner kick that sailed through the middle of the box for an Arico attempted header and a
Sawyer Frank rocket that was inexplicably saved.
Frank also had an on-target header that was deflected just above the net and
Jimmy Lawler added another header that banged off the top of the crossbar.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Toni Virtanen made three saves on his way to win number four on the year as EC outshot Saint Leo, 20-11.
The Tritons will look to keep rolling into the month of October, heading down to Miami Shores for another conference battle at No. 9 Barry University (7-1, 1-1 SSC) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
