Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In a non-conference matchup Tuesday night, the Eckerd men's soccer team fell to Florida Tech, 5-1.
Scoring opened up early for the Panthers (8-2-1) with their first goal coming in the 10th minute. Florida Tech's Adin Kavara found the back of the net after a crisp cross in from Robbie Madden to the back post. Three minutes later, Kavara notched his second goal of the night to give FIT a two-goal lead.
Despite their best efforts, the Tritons (6-4-2) struggled to produce offensively against an efficient Panther defense. Entering the night, FIT sat in second in the conference in goals allowed average at 1.0 per match.
In the 32nd minute, FIT extended its lead to three with a goal from Josh Thomas. Hugo Lopez laid the ball off to Thomas who fired off a shot from 30 yards out, beating goalkeeper
Alex Gott.
Just two minutes before halftime, Eckerd was awarded a penalty kick after sophomore
Juan David Tejada was taken down in the box. Tejada converted the penalty kick, recording his eighth goal of the season and narrowing the lead to two.
FIT came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half with three shots in the first five minutes. Eckerd looked to gain momentum but shots from
Bailey O'Shea and
Matheus Assumpcao were shut down by the Panthers' back line.
In the 58th minute, Kavara earned his third goal of the match with a header into the bottom left side netting off another cross from Madden.
The Panthers managed to put away their fifth and final goal of the match with six minutes to play. Per Henrik Nag beat Eckerd's back line with a touch in behind and found the back of the net from 20 yards out.
The Tritons were outshot 18-7 in the match with Gott recording three saves on the night.  The match marks the Tritons' second loss to the Panthers this season.
Eckerd plays its final home game of the regular season on Saturday, October 22, in a Sunshine State Conference matchup against Nova Southeastern University on senior night. The program's three seniors will be honored prior to the start of the match with kickoff set for 7:00 PM.
