ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd men's soccer team enters the postseason for the second straight year as the Tritons visit Florida Tech tonight in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament.
GAME 16: Eckerd (7-5-2, 3-4-2 SSC) at Florida Tech (11-3-1, 6-3 SSC) | SSC Tournament First Round | Melbourne, Fla. | 7:00 PM
COVERAGE: Stats/Video |
Tournament Home |
Bracket
SETTING THE STAGE: Eckerd is the No. 6 seed in the SSC Tournament, getting in via tiebreaker over Rollins thanks to EC's win over Tampa during the regular season. Florida Tech is the No. 3 seed after earning 18 points in conference play. Â The Panthers have defeated Eckerd twice this year, a 3-2 conference win in Melbourne on September 17 and a 5-1 non-conference win in St. Petersburg on October 18. Â
ROAD WOES: Eckerd will look to do something it has not done yet this season in tonight's contest - win a game on the road. Â EC went 7-2-1 at home but was 0-3-2 on the road, including a loss at Florida Tech.
SHOTS LEADER: No one in the conference has taken more shots than EC's
Matheus Assumpcao. Â The junior leads the SSC with 59 total shots, an average of 3.93 per match. Â He's converted six into goals, tied for second on the team with
Robert Labus behind
Juan David Tejada's team-high nine goals.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS: FIT enters the tournament on a three-match winning streak, outscoring its opponents 10-1 during the stretch. Â The Tritons will definitely need to keep a mark on Adin Kavara, the team leader in goals with 11. Â Kavara netted three of those against the Tritons on October 18 in a 5-1 win. Â Evan Enders is also a scoring threat with six goals, and Josh Thomas excels at setting up his teammates with eight assists. Â Goalkeeper Christian Moerch leads a Panther defense that ranks second in the SSC in goals allowed per match (1.0). Â Moerch is second in the conference in goals allowed average and save percentage.
