LAKELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team extended its Sun Conference record to 5-0-2 with a 4-1 victory over Southeastern on Tuesday. The
Eagles remain undefeated in conference play and are 10-3-2 overall, while the Fire falls to 7-10 and 0-9 in league play.
The Eagles received a balanced
effort on the night with the goals coming from four different individuals. The offense outshot the Fire 25-6, while the defense limited Southeastern to long-range shots
under pressure.
The Eagles controlled the game from the first whistle and it didn't take long for the Blue and Gold to translate possession into a goal as
Ryan Woods blasted a shot from about 30 yards out to put the Eagles up 1-0 in the fifth
minute.
Embry-Riddle's second goal of the game came less than five minutes later after the Fire sent the ball out of play over the touch line.
Fredrik Elgstrom took the short corner to
Luke Baker whose first touch went over the Southeastern defense to
Matthias Klatt at point-blank range and Klatt tapped in his first goal of the season to put the Eagles up 2-0.
At the 19:01 mark, a
Fire defender was called for a hand ball inside the 18-yard box.
Ryan
Maloney stepped up and buried his third penalty kick of the season to increase the Eagle margin to 3-0, a lead which they held going into the halftime break
In the 67th minute, Maloney flicked a
Michael Donald cross to
Sam Litchfield just outside the six-yard box. Litchfield's initial header was stopped by Fire
goalkeeper Bo Giles, but Litchfield stayed with play and slotted the rebound into lower right corner to make the score 4-0.
With just under six minutes left,
Southeastern took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Eagles that allowed Andy Osborne to net the Fire's only goal of the night.
The Eagles play their
last road game of the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Ave Maria, Fla. to take on Sun Conference newcomer Ave Maria. Game time is slated for 3
p.m.