ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Despite a lead at halftime over the nationally-ranked Panthers, the Eckerd men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season, 2-1, on a pair of second-half goals by No. 6 Florida Tech at Johnson Field Wednesday night.
The Panthers pressed early, registering four shots in the first 15 minutes. They rifled back-to-back shots in the 30th minute, but Lynden Dawson made a spectacular kick save to keep FIT off the board. The Tritons managed just one shot on goal in the opening half, making the most of their opportunity in the 42nd minute. Joao Gouveia sent in a pass from the wing to Tommy Shepherd in the box, who collected the ball and fired it into the top left corner to give Eckerd a 1-0 lead at the half.
The Panthers equalized in the 66th minute as Ettore Casadei found the back of the net on a pair of consecutive shots. Florida Tech added the winning goal 10 minutes later.
Eckerd had a few looks on goal to equalize in the final five minutes with two shots on frame and a corner kick but were unable to convert.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: Florida Tech 2, Eckerd 1
RECORDS: Eckerd 3-1-3 (2-1 SSC); Florida Tech 5-0-2 (2-0-1 SSC)
SCORING SUMMARY: EC- 42' Shepherd (Gouveia), FIT- 66' Ettore Casadei (Soeren Nygaard), 75' Fabio Amaral (Soeren Nygaard)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Shepherd scored his sixth goal of the season. He has now scored in four consecutive games.
- Florida Tech held a 17-8 advantage in shots and a 9-4 favor in shots on goal.
- Dawson registered seven saves in net.
- Gouveia recorded his first assist of the season.
- Dawson, Fredrik Klausen, Tommy Lamb, Blake Bauer, and Micah Nelson played the full 90 minutes.
UP NEXT
Eckerd travels to Embry-Riddle on Saturday for a 7:00 PM kick-off.
