DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— The No. 26 Embry-Riddle men's soccer team downed 14th-ranked Northwood  4-2, Tuesday night in a pivotal Sun Conference match-up at Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium. The Eagles 7-3-1 (4-1-0) used four goals in the first half and held off a second half charge by the undefeated Seahawks 6-1-1 (2-1-0) to hold on to the victory.

Embry-Riddle struck first in the match in the fourth minute of play. Midfielder Sam Fairhurst took a corner kick on the far side of the field and lofted it into the box for the Blue and Gold. The set piece was headed by Alan Vezza as he charged in to the box, but a Northwood defender was there to make what looked like to be an outstanding save. However, the referee whistled that the defender touched the ball past the line and awarded the goal to Vezza and the Eagles.  

ERAU went up 2-0 on the Seahawks just five minutes later when they scored on another corner kick. Fairhurst took the corner again from the same side of the pitch and booted the ball towards the far post. Matthias Klatt and Ally MacDonald both converged for the ball, but MacDonald, the Sun Conference Offensive Player of the Week, ended up heading it home for his eighth goal of the season.

Fairhurst tallied another assist in the 24th minute when the Eagles took a three goal lead on the Seahawks. The Wigan, England native collected a ball at midfield and sent a pass to freshman Veit Couturier who corralled the pass, dribbled past one defender and fired a shot from 25 yards out past a diving Matt Dawson in the upper 90.

The Eagles went up by another score and took a 4-0 lead on the 14th-ranked Seahawks in the 33rd minute of play. Anel Coralic had the ball on the far side of the field and sent a beautiful pass towards the middle of the pitch just outside the 18-yard box. Northwood's keeper, Dawson, was charging for the ball, but Erik Norburg was able to beat him to it and flick it over his head to register the Eagles fourth goal of the night.

Northwood got on the board with less than 20 seconds remaining in the half when the Eagles were called for a foul in the box. The Seahawks' Marcus Johansson elected to take the penalty kick and put it past Eagle keeper Nils Carlson to put the score at 4-1 going into halftime.  

The Eagles and Seahawks began the second half with very physical play. Neither team was able to control the pitch as play went back and forth for the majority of the second half. There was good combination play on both sides, but not many goal scoring opportunities for either squad.

Perhaps the best scoring opportunity for the Eagles came between the 55th and 56th minute of play. The Eagles earned five corner kicks in a row, but were unable to convert as headers by Vezza and Klatt missed the frame.
  
Northwood showed signs of life on offense late in the match and scored their second goal in the 88th minute. Olli Isosalo took a free kick on the left side of the field just outside of the 18-yard box for the Seahawks. His ball found Alvaro Romo streaking towards the goal and put the score at 4-2.

ERAU was able to hold off Northwood for the remaining time in the game and took the match by way of a 4-2 victory. The Eagles had a 12-0 advantage in corner kicks and a 12-10 advantage in shots on the night. Six Eagles earned points in the contest, but Fairhurst led the way offensively with three assists.

The Eagle men will take to the pitch again when they host rival SCAD Savannah on Saturday Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium for another pivotal game in Sun Conference play.