ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - For 65 minutes, the Triton men's soccer team appeared to be on the verge of a major upset.
In the end, though, the depth of No. 4 Palm Beach Atlantic proved to be a deciding factor as the Sailfish scored three times in the final 26 minutes to escape Johnson Field with a 3-2 win.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: #4 Palm Beach Atlantic 3, Eckerd 2
Records: Eckerd 4-8-1 (2-6 SSC), Palm Beach Atlantic 13-1 (7-1 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- Palm Beach Atlantic had two close-range chances just four minutes into the match, but Mason DeBaets made a pair of brilliant saves. Â Eckerd also narrowly missed an early chance when Agustin Pertusso's strike from distance hit the crossbar in the 16th minute.
- The Tritons broke through in the 33rd minute for a 1-0 lead. Juan David Tejada served a perfectly-placed corner kick to the top of the box when an unmarked Nick Reinauer was running on. The sophomore defender one-touched a hard strike past PBA's Elliott Barker inside the right post.
- Eckerd doubled its lead minutes into the second half. Pertusso took a through ball near the top of the box, then danced his way around two defenders to beat Barker to the left corner.
- The Tritons nearly added another goal in the 59th minute on another corner kick from Tejada. Â Tejada sent the ball past the far post when Liam Guest out-jumped his defender and headed the pass into the upper right corner, but the goal was waved off due to a foul.
- PBA finally scored in the 64th minute with Claudio Rivadeneira dribbling through a series of Triton defenders to get enough space to rip a low shot into the lower left corner.
- The Sailfish struck again five minutes later. Rivadeneira shot inside the box was blocked but the rebound fell at the feet of Jack Burrows, who rocketed a shot inside the left post for the equalizer.
- Palm Beach Atlantic took its first lead in the 76th minute when Rafael Souza slid a short pass inside the box to Rivadeneira. Â Rivadeneira quickly sent a shot into the upper right corner for his second goal of the night.
- Eckerd nearly equalized with two minutes left on a hard shot by Max Scherer from the left side, but the ball hit the post and deflected out of play.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- DeBaets stopped a career-high eight shots in the loss as PBA outshot Eckerd, 20-9.
- The one-goal loss was Eckerd's fourth in six conference defeats.
- Pertusso's goal was his fifth of the season while Reinauer's was his second.
UP NEXT
The Tritons travel to take on Florida Southern on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.