LAKELAND, Fla. - After suffering a 5-1 setback to NCAA II No. 9 Rollins on Saturday, the Embry-Riddle Men's Soccer team took to the road to try and rebound, and they accomplished just that with a 4-0 dominance over NCAA II Florida Southern on Tuesday night. The Eagles controlled the game from the start, leading 1-0 after just three and a half minutes, never looking back en route to the victory. The Blue and Gold (2-1) now have two weeks to rest before its next match. The Mocassins fall to 1-1 overall with the loss.
Senior
Nicklas Petersson was a terror for the FSC defense, ending the night with eight shots, six on goal and two scores, leading the Eagles on the offensive end. In the match's opening minutes Petersson collected the ball after the Mocs' keeper Cole Clingerman mishandled the ball in the box, finding the side-netting to put the vistiors in front, 1-0.
Nils Carlson, who recorded his 14th career shutout thanks to seven saves, made a diving stop to his right in the 10th minute after FSC's Nico Guevara fired a shot towards the Eagle goal. The save started a counterattack for the Blue and Gold as defender
Alan Vezza played a perfect ball to
Ally MacDonald up the left side of the field and MacDonald chipped the ball over Clingerman's head to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Eagles.
Several corner kicks from the host team during the middl parts of the first half were turned away by the Eagles' stout defense, led by Carlson. Both Petersson and MacDonald had opportunities for their second goals of the match in back-to-back sequences, but one was blocked and one went just wide as the score remained 2-0.
The Mocs were held shot-less over the last 10 minutes of the period as the ball remained in FSC's defensive half.
Florida Southern came out on the attack as the second half begun, but the the Eagle defense never faltered, and in fact it was Embry-Riddle who came away with a goal in the 64th minute when MacDonald and Petersson hooked up on the left side of the pitch, resulting in a perfect feed from MacDonald to Petersson who finished past Clingerman for his second score of the evening.
The Eagles owned the majority of solid chances over the course of the game and
Viktor Gudnason joined Petersson with his second goal of the season in the 88th minute, firing a shot from outside the box towards the lower-right portion of the goal where Clingerman was unable to corral it, accounting for the 4-0 final.
The Eagles outshot the Mocs, 19-15 while owning the slight advantage in shots on frame at 9-8.
Embry-Riddle's next match is Sept. 25 at home against conference foe Northwood. Kick off is slated for 7 p.m. at the Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium.
