DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team got a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over Warner on Saturday afternoon in The Sun Conference Quarterfinal contest at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium. The victory sends the Eagles on to the semifinals to be held at St. Thomas on Nov. 9.
The Eagles fell behind early as Warner took advantage of Embry-Riddle's aggressive offensive attack and caught the Blue and Gold in transition. Diego De la Fuente put the Royals on the board as he fired a shot from just inside the penalty box, squeezing the ball inside the crossbar. Iker Ibanez was able to cross the ball from left to right, leading De la Fuente into the box and in perfect position for the goal.
Embry-Riddle had several opportunities in the first half, including a
Veit Couturier header that was knocked away at the last minute by a Royal defender, but could not convert before the half.
The physical play continued into the second half as five cautions were issued in the period. Both teams played possession soccer, taking few chances in the early going.
The scoring opportunities started to mount for the Eagles late in the period with several shots going just wide of net that is until the 73
rd minute when
Nicklas Petersson found an opening and fired a laser through several defenders, past Royals goalkeeper Kyle Coleman and into the upper 90 for the equalizer.
With the score tied and time winding down, the Eagles' last opportunity to win before overtime came off a set piece as
Sam Fairhurst sent the ball into the box and found the head of
Marcus Starke, but Starke's header hit the crossbar and the scored remained 1-1 at the end of regulation.
The Eagles defense stood tall in the second half, allowing just two shots, while the Blue and Gold was able to tally nine.
It took just 2:30 for the Eagles to end the game in the extra period as Alexander MacDonald took control of the ball in the Eagles' defensive third and recognized the two-v-two matchup downfield and sent a pass to
Marcus Starke, who was able to corral the ball and get a pass to
Frankie Arias. Arias beat his defender and Coleman was late to react as Arias made a soft touch over the goalkeeper's arms for the game-winner.
The Eagles return to the pitch on Friday, Nov. 9, when they travel to Miami, Fla. to play in The Sun Conference semifinals against the winner of Florida Memorial and SCAD Savannah.
