MEN'S SOCCER GAMEDAY: Eckerd at Saint Leo

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College men's soccer team wraps up the regular season with a highly-important match as they travel to face Saint Leo tonight at 7:00 PM.

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SETTING THE STAGE
Depending on what happens in tonight's matches, the Tritons could finish anywhere from first to fifth in the final Sunshine State Conference standings. An Eckerd win coupled with a Tampa loss would clinch the top spot for the Tritons and bring the SSC Conference Tournament semifinals and finals to the Turley Athletic Complex. Eckerd (8-4-1, 4-2-1) broke a four-game skid on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Nova Southeastern but will face a tough test against Saint Leo (8-5, 4-2), which appears to be hitting its stride as the regular season winds down.

LAST TIME THEY MET
The match was scoreless at the half, but then-No. 9 Saint Leo got three goals in the second half on the way to a 3-0 win over Eckerd on October 14, 2014, in Saint Leo. The Lions also defeated the Tritons in a non-conference match earlier that year in St. Petersburg, 2-1.

INSIDE THE SERIES
The all-time series has been as even as it can be as the teams enter tonight's contest tied at 21-21-2. Eckerd last defeated Saint Leo in 2013, handing the Lions a 1-0 overtime loss in the regular season before eliminating them in the conference tournament quarterfinals on penalty kicks.

ABOUT THE LIONS
- Like Eckerd, the Lions still have a chance to win the conference's regular season championship. To do that, Saint Leo has to either win its final two matches (SLU hosts Barry on Saturday) or gain a win and a draw in its final two if Tampa loses tonight.
- After a slow start, Saint Leo appears to be peaking at the right time. The team had won five straight matches - including a 4-1 win over Tampa - before dropping a 3-1 decision to NCAA Division I Stetson (Fla.) earlier this week. However, SLU rested the majority of its starters in that match.
- Saint Leo swept this week's SSC Player of the Week Awards with Maximilian Schulze-Geisthovel taking offensive honors and James White earning defensive honors. Schulze-Geisthovel scored three times last week and leads the team with 11 goals. White limited two SSC opponents to one goal during the week and posted his fourth clean sheet of the season, second in the conference behind Alex Gott.

ABOUT THE TRITONS
- Tolin Vaccaro scored his first career goal on Saturday night, punching home a rebound of his own shot in the 81st minute to give Eckerd a 1-0 win over Nova Southeastern. The Tritons dominated the match with 24 shots to six for NSU.
- Alex Gott stopped both shots he faced on Saturday to record his sixth clean sheet of the season. He leads the conference in shutouts (six), save percentage (.790) and goals allowed average (1.049). On Saturday, he got a little help from Antonio Alvarez who made a fabulous slide tackle to clear the ball off the feet of the Sharks on what looked to be a one-on-one situation with Gott.
- Regardless of the outcome of tonight's match, the Tritons have secured a spot in the SSC tournament. However, their exact seed is yet to be determined and will hinge largely on tonight's result at Saint Leo as well as the result of the Tampa/Lynn match also played tonight.

TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
Here is a look at where the Tritons could finish based on the outcomes of tonight's matches. These scenarios do not include draws; if Eckerd draws tonight, the final position will pend the result of Saturday's Saint Leo/Barry contest.

- If Eckerd wins and Tampa loses, Eckerd is 1st
- If Eckerd wins and Tampa wins, Eckerd is 2nd
- If Eckerd loses and Tampa wins, Eckerd is 4th
- If Eckerd loses and Tampa loses, Eckerd is 5th