GAMEDAY CENTRAL
#13 Embry-Riddle (12-2) vs. Florida Memorial (4-10)
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013
CITY: Daytona Beach, Fla.
SITE: ERAU Soccer Stadium
START: 7:30 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Stretch Internet
LIVE VIDEO: Stretch Internet
EMBRY-RIDDLE'S LAST 5 GAMES: 4-1
EMBRY-RIDDLE'S LAST 10 GAMES: 9-1
EMBRY-RIDDLE AT HOME IN 2013: 5-1
FLORIDA MEMORIAL ON THE ROAD IN 2013: 2-6
AT A GLANCE
The 13th-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles open up the 2013 postseason tonight by hosting the Lions of Florida Memorial in a Sun Conference quarterfinal matchup. The Eagles, who finished 9-1 during the TSC regular season schedule, captured the program's eighth league title and earned the No. 1 seed for the eight-team tournament.
ABOUT THE LIONS
The Lions, coached by Fernando Valenzuela, ended the 2013 regular season with four wins in their final six games, earning the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament. FMU has been outscored 27-19 this year, despite a 193-185 advantage in shots.
Gabriel Umansky leads Florida Memorial with three goals, with four other Lions recording a pair of goals. Both Maximiliano Schenfeld and Santiago Crosetti have scored twice and added two assists to the Lion attack.
Pablo Terminiello has been the Lions' mainstay in goal, making 39 saves in 11 starts while holding a 2.22 goals against average.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Oct. 5, 2013 - HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - The 21st-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles stared down adversity on October 5 in South Florida, facing a Florida Memorial team that had beaten the Blue and Gold in the last two meetings. But the Eagles didn't blink, despite trailing 2-0 at half and having to deal with less than ideal playing conditions, Embry-Riddle battled back and rallied for a 3-2 overtime victory against the Lions thanks to an
Alan Vezza header a little more than 90 seconds into the OT period. The Eagles move to 6-1 overall and stay atop The Sun Conference standings with a 4-0 ledger. The Lions drop to 0-7 overall and 0-3 in the league table.
The match, already pushed back from its original start time and moved to a different location, began 15 minutes later than the rescheduled time due to a co-ed recreational game on the field the Eagles and Lions were supposed to use.
The first half belonged to the Lions as the home team outshot the Eagles 9-4 and broke through with a 26th minute score by Lucas Vigliaccio off an assist from Ignacio Brown, giving FMU a 1-0 advantage.
A few minutes after the Lions' goal, the referee was forced to stop the game due to darkness as the lights on the field were not turned on. After an approximate 10 minute delay the match was resumed, but the Eagles fared no better as the Lions went up 2-0 on a Maximillian Schenfield penalty kick goal in the 38th minute.
As the half wound down, the physicality did not and in the 43rd minute a yellow card was issued to the Eagles, followed by a yellow card given to the Florida Memorial bench for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Lions nearly went up 3-0 into the break, but a nice save from
Nils Carlson kept the Eagles down just two scores after 45 minutes.
The Eagles got their marching orders from 20th-year Head Coach Dave Gregson, and his team responded, recording the first four shots of the second period, including the first ERAU goal of the evening when
Sigurbergur Elisson found the back of the net from the left side of the FMU penalty area, cutting the Eagle deficit in half, 2-1.
For most of the second half the Eagles proved to be the aggressors, peppering shot after shot at the FMU goal, but unable to find the equalizer. At least until the 65th minute when junior
Veit Couturier was taken down in the Lions' box, giving the Loerrach, Germany native a chance to bring his team level. Afer several minues of complaining from the FMU side, Couturier calmly buried his third PK of 2013 to knot things up at 2-2.
Both Couturier and Elisson had several chances to put the Eagles in front over the last 25 minutes of regulation, as well as
Ally MacDonald, whose shot at the 74:08 mark sailed wide, but the Lions also had several opportunities over the closing moments, but Carlson and the Eagle back line stood firm, sending the game to overtime at 2-2.
Embry-Riddle held possession for nearly the entire overtime period, and when a free kick was granted on the left side of the pitch, MacDonald served a perfect ball towards the right side of the goal and Vezza's thunderous header with most of the Lions' backs turned sent the Eagles into a great celebration at Dowdy Field.
Embry-Riddle's second half adjustments proved to be the difference as the Eagles improved their shot total from four to 18 after halftime.
Carlson ended the night with 10 saves, setting a career high, while the Eagles stretched their winning streak to five consecutive matches.
SETTING UP THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
The Eagles are the No. 1 seed and will have home field advantage throughout the 2013 TSC Tournament.
The first round matchups look like this:
#1 Embry-Riddle vs. #8 Florida Memorial
#2 Thomas vs. #7 Warner
#3 Webber International vs. #6 Southeastern
#4 Northwood vs. #5 SCAD Savannah
Conference Tournament Home Page
ONE OF THE ELITE COACHES
In the midst of 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 231-120-25 record through 20 seasons of play gives him a .649 winning percentage.
