GAMEDAY CENTRAL
#21 Embry-Riddle (6-1, 4-0) vs. Southeastern (5-4-2, 1-2-1)
DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ERAU Soccer Stadium
START: 7 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
LIVE VIDEO: Stretch Internet
LIVE AUDIO: Stretch Internet
EMBRY-RIDDLE'S LAST 5 GAMES: 5-0
EMBRY-RIDDLE'S LAST 10 GAMES: 8-2
EMBRY-RIDDLE AT HOME IN 2013: 2-1
SOUTHEASTERN ON THE ROAD IN 2013: 3-4
AT A GLANCE
Embry-Riddle returns to Daytona Beach this week for a pair of Sun Conference matches, beginning Wednesday against Southeastern at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium. The Eagles also host Ave Maria on Saturday at 7p.m. Embry-Riddle looks to extend its five-game winning streak, as well as keep a perfect mark in league action.
ABOUT THE FIRE
Southeastern, coached by 10-year Head Coach Drew Stacy, enters Wednesday's contest with a 5-4-2 overall record and a 1-2-1 mark in The Sun Conference. The Fire suffered three consecutive losses from Sept. 20 - Sept. 28, but won their last contest on Friday with a 2-1 overtime win against Johnson & Wales. SEU tied then-No. 21 Southern Wesleyan on Sept. 14, 2-2.
Southeastern has registered 21 goals in 10 games in 2013, led by Ashton Hicks and Gerritson Craane who have combined for 11 goals and seven assists for SEU. Hicks leads The Sun Conference with seven assists, while SEU as a team averages 1.60 per contest.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Oct. 3, 2012 - LAKELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team earned its first conference win of the season, topping Southeastern 3-2 in double overtime in Sun Conference play in October of 2012. Junior
Nicklas Petersson was responsible for two of the Eagles' (1-7-1, 1-3) three goals on the night, netting the squad's first and third scores in the win.
The Fire (4-5, 1-4) grabbed an early lead on their first shot of the game in the seventh minute. Shawn Meek collected the ball at the midfield following an Eagle defensive miscue, took the ball down the right side and delivered a cross that was met by Gustavo DaSilva who finished the play to put Southeastern up 1-0.
The Eagles created several chances to score in the first frame, but finally got the equalizer off Petersson's boot 15 minutes into the second half. After collecting the ball about 25 yard outside the penalty area,
Veit Couturier spun, took a touch to elude a defender and played Petersson in on the run. Petersson's first touch was deflected by the Southeastern goalkeeper, but the ERAU junior was able reclaim the ball and passed it in to the net to make the score 1-1.
Meek was involved in the Fire's second goal of the night, taking a set piece after Southeastern was fouled in the 74th minute. Meek lifted the free kick into the box where Stephen Eppinger headed the ball past
Nils Carlson to put the Fire back on top 2-1.
The Eagles' second goal of the night was very similar to their first, but this time it was
Ally MacDonald who found
Marcus Starke on the run on the left side and the freshman buried his first goal of the year into the far side netting to pull the Eagles level and send the game into overtime.
The first 10 minutes of overtime saw each team tally three shots apiece, but neither team was able to find the back of the net, resulting in an additional period of extra play.
The second overtime period began the same as the first, with both teams trading shots in attempt to win the game on a "Golden Goal". In the 107th minute, Couturier received the ball about 20 yards off the midfield stripe and was able to connect with Petersson once again. Petersson's original shot was blocked by SEU David Danahy, but Petersson stayed with the play, collected the rebound and pushed the ball past Danahy to score the game-winning goal.
Embry-Riddle finished the contest with a 21-17 advantage in shots. Carlson had three saves, while his Southeastern counterpart, Danahy finished with seven in the loss.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Fire have been unsuccesful in seven tries against the Eagles, dropping every game versus Embry-Riddle. Last season's 3-2 decision was the closest game in the series since a 1-0 ERAU win in 1994.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nils Carlson became the second straight Embry-Riddle Eagle to earn Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors when the league office announced he had been selected on Monday. Carlson, the first repeat Player of the Week in men's soccer, joined
Alan Vezza (defensive) and
Nicklas Petersson (offensive) as Player of the Week honorees.
90-MINUTE MEN
Only two Eagles have played in every minute (632) of Embry-Riddle's matches in 2013: goalkeeper
Nils Carlson and defender
Alan Vezza. Defender
Ally MacDonald has played 606 minutes as a senior while fellow defender
Viktor Hafsteinsson has played 599 minutes and fellow freshman
Sigurbergur Elisson has appeared in 593 minutes on the pitch. Carlson moved past
Ian Levine for fourth on the all-time goalkeeper mintue list in Eagle history. He stands at 3,990 minutes in his Embry-Riddle career.
ONE OF THE ELITE COACHES
Entering his 20th season at the helm of Embry-Riddle Men's Soccer, Dave Gregson ranked 13th in the NAIA on the active winningest coaching list. Gregson's 225-119-25 record through 20 seasons of play gives him a .642 winning percentage.
