Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. - Succeeding in the postseason is often about peaking at the right time, a concept with which the Lynn Knight men's soccer team is quite familiar.
The defending conference and national champions put their experience to use on Tuesday night, moving on in the Sunshine State Conference tournament with a 5-1 win over Eckerd in the opening round.
The loss most likely ends the Tritons' season at 8-6-1, the second straight year the team's campaign came to a close in the first round of the conference tournament.
Fourth-seeded Lynn (9-3-2) wasted little time in getting on the board, scoring in the second minute on a header by Luca Puster from close range. It was set up by the Knights' first corner kick, which was cleared to the top of the box but Bruno Militz chipped the ball to Puster who headed it just underneath the crossbar.
The Knights added another goal in the 10th minute on a Tomer Britton shot, and made it 3-0 in the 28th minute on Chris Hellman's first goal of the night off a misplayed clearance.
The Tritons didn't get their first shot until late in the first half after a foul near the top of the 18 yard box gave EC a free kick from a position where
Richard Ainscough has been quite dangerous all season. Ainscough laid a quality strike on the ball, bending it low to the left post but Lynn's Johnny DeMoya made a diving stop to deflect the shot off-frame.
The start of the second half was much more evenly-played, and Eckerd showed it still had life after Ainscough converted a free kick in the 70th minute to cut the deficit down to two.
However, there would be no comeback like the last time these two met as Hellman caught EC's
Alex Gott out of the net and chipped the ball over him in the 77th minute. Two minutes later, Dominik Friedl added another goal for the final score of the match.
Despite the less-than-ideal end to the season, it was still one that saw steps in the right direction under second-year head coach
Cristian Neagu. The Tritons opened the season with an eight-match unbeaten streak and earned a national ranking coming in at No. 23 in the NSCAA Division II Coaches Poll.
"Overall, I am pleased with our season," Neagu said. "I feel that we've made some positive steps; however, I think we have a ways to go. We need to continue raising the standards in everything we do, create good habits and good results will come. A big thanks to our senior class this year who worked extremely hard and played a big part in our success this year."
The loss brings an end to the careers of seniors
Richard Ainscough,
Nick Jackson,
Eduardo Juarez,
Tolin Vaccaro and
Adam Stephany. Ainscough's goal tonight brought his season total to eight, the most in a season by a Triton since 2011.
