DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team returned home to face Sunshine State Conference foe Tampa on Wednesday night.
An action-packed second half that included four goals, sent the game into extra time. As time winded down in the second overtime period, it seemed like the match was destined to end in a tie, however, with 20 seconds left, the Spartans (2-6-3, 2-5 SSC) stole the win after their counter-attack resulted in a one-on-one chance with the keeper for Juancho Fernandez. Fernandez broke away from his defender and found the back of the net to give Tampa a 3-2 victory.
Both teams struggled to gain an advantage in the first half. The squads were evenly matched in terms of possession, but each had opportunities to take control of the match.
ERAU (2-6-1, 1-5-1 SSC) had an aggressive approach to start the match. The Eagles took three shots in the first 10 minutes of the game. This included an attempt by
Olav Olsen Aamlid that was saved by the Tampa goalie.
The Spartans had a chance to take the lead before halftime. With 10 minutes remaining, Tampa's Amgad Salah dribbled past the ERAU defense and had a one-on-one chance with the keeper, however, his shot was saved by
Will Hanisch.
With eight minutes remaining in the first period, the Eagles were awarded with a corner which resulted in an open look at goal for
Ross Dickinson. He nearly gave ERAU the lead, but his strike at goal was blocked by the crossbar and cleared away. Minutes later,
Christian Mather had an opportunity in front of goal, but his attempt off a volley sailed high. Both teams went into the locker room for halftime with the game at a scoreless tie.
The first goal of the match came at the 70-minute mark.
Shane Butler attempted to make a run at goal, but was tripped up in the box, resulting in a penalty.
Teddy West took the shot for the Eagles, and he converted to give ERAU a 1-0 lead.
Merely, a minute later, Tampa drew a foul in its attacking third, which awarded it with a penalty of its own. Marcel Salokat scored on the Spartan penalty kick to tie the game at 1.
At the 85-minute mark, Tampa took its first lead of the game thanks to Fernandez' first goal of the game. Toni Soler's pass led to Fernandez' open look, and with five minutes remaining in the match, it looked like the Eagles were done for, but ERAU was not done yet.
With a minute and a half remaining,
Yannick Blackman led the Eagle attack. He sent a cross into the box that connected with Mather to score the equalizing goal. The 2-2 match would stay that way until Fernandez' second goal of the match coming with just 20 seconds remaining in overtime.
Both squads were tied with 18 shots each. Mather led the ERAU offense with four shots. West, Blackman, Aamlid and
Tim-Frederik Lange were tied with two shots each.
The loss dropped ERAU from eighth to 10
th place in the SSC. Tampa moved up to ninth in the rankings.
The Eagle's next match will be Saturday against (RV) Florida Southern. The match at the ERAU Soccer Stadium will kickoff at 6 p.m.
