Tritons Dominate Possession in Season-Opening Victory

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After a somewhat slow start in the first match of the 2018 season, the Eckerd men's soccer team settled into a rhythm and dominated the final 45 minutes against Ave Maria (Fla.) on the way to a 4-1 win at Johnson Field.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 4, Ave Maria 1
Records: Eckerd 1-0, Ave Maria 2-3

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The match was very evenly played in the first 15 minutes of the contest.  The Tritons had some early chances and finally got on the board in the 18th minute when Agustin Pertusso slotted the ball to Pedro Galvao making a run through the center. Galvao deftly one-touched the pass out of the reach of AMU keeper Andre Salomone.
• Eckerd continued to attack, generating three corner kicks in a five-minute span but was unable to score. The Gyrenes later found the equalizer in the form of a brilliant strike by Kaveon Dux from outside the box on the right side.
• With under 20 seconds left in the first half, Eckerd had a potential scoring run stopped on a foul and yellow card shown to AMU's Cedric Georges. The Tritons, however, made the best of the free kick as Max Scherer lofted a ball into the box and Nick Reinauer headed it inside the left post to give EC a 2-1 halftime lead.
• Eckerd dominated possession throughout the second half and finally struck again in the 70th minute after Ty Dolan was taken down in the box.  Juan David Tejada converted the penalty kick for a 3-1 lead.
• The Tritons added a final goal in the 86th minute when Robert Carter punched in a rebound of a hard shot by Dolan.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• Eckerd outshot Ave Maria, 25-5, and held a 14-1 edge in chances in the second half alone.
• Freshman Mason DeBaets earned the win in goal in his first collegiate start.
• Tejada's goal was the 17th of his career, putting him alone in 12th place all-time at Eckerd.

QUOTABLE
"You could tell this was our first competitive game of the year.  Ave Maria made the first half very competitive abd we lacked the composure to play the extra pass at times that would have given us more control.  Lots of young guys got their first minutes tonight and we managed to navigate the game effectively in the second half, albeit with some poor finishing to kill the game quicker." - EC head coach Ian Cameron

UP NEXT
The Tritons return to Johnson Field on Saturday to host the University of Montevallo (Ala.) at 7:00 PM.