ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's soccer team continued its stretch of away matches when they faced Eckerd on Wednesday night.
 
Both squads were evenly matched throughout the game. Despite their efforts, the Eagles (2-4, 1-3 SSC) lost the hard-fought match by a score of 2-1.
 
With less than five minutes remaining in the match, Eckerd's forward was sent on a run towards goal. A hard tackle would result on a penalty called on the Eagles, putting the Tritons (3-5-1, 1-3 SSC) in prime position to take the lead. Juan Tejada's penalty kick was saved by Gudmundur Sigurbjornsson, but Tejada got his own rebound and executed on his second chance to lead Eckerd to victory.
 
The Tritons were the aggressors in the beginning of the match. Westleigh Rush tried to give Eckerd an early advantage, but his shot just four minutes into the match was saved by Sigurbjornsson.
 
ERAU took its time in feeling out the Triton defense. The Eagles would even out the possession battle in the latter portion of the first half. Roberto Whitley and Alex O'Brien both had their sights set on goal, but their attempts at the midway point of the half were unable to find the mark.
 
The Eagles had several opportunities to create chances at goal before halftime. They were awarded with three corner kicks and several free kicks in good position, however, nothing came of the opportunities. The game remained scoreless at halftime.
 
The Blue and Gold picked up where it left off in the first period. ERAU's aggressive start to the half would eventually pay off. Just seven minutes into the second period, Christian Mather played a high ball into the box. O'Brien would head the pass towards Teddy West for an open look at goal. West struck the ball first-time and found the back of the net to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.
 
It would not take long for Eckerd to even the match. Immediately after the ERAU goal, the Titans made their way back to their attacking third. Agustin Pertusso would find Tejada in the box who turned and fired a shot on goal. Sigurbjornsson tried to block the shot and send it over the crossbar, but the ball would sneak under the crossbar and land in goal to even the game at one with 32 minutes left to play.
 
The match was neck and neck in the second half with both teams trying to break the tie. ERAU continued to ramp up the pressure on the offensive end. The Eagles tallied 10 shots in the second half alone after only attempting three in the first half. West stayed assertive trying to score his second goal of the night. He added four more shots at goal down the stretch, but was unable to regain the lead for ERAU.
 
After the penalty kick, the Eagles pushed to even the match once more, however, they were unable to recover. ERAU's best chance came on a header from Nathan Hubbs that was saved by the Eckerd goalkeeper.
 
West led the Eagle offense with five shots. Whitley was not far behind with three shots of his own.
 
ERAU will return home on Saturday when it plays Barry. The match at ERAU Soccer Stadium will kickoff at 7 p.m.