ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Following a season-opening win last Saturday, the Embry-Riddle men's soccer team dropped a mid-week match to Flagler on Tuesday. The Eagles fell 3-2 and moved to 1-1 on the year.
It was a tale of two completely different halves as the Saints took command early and scored all of their goals in the first half, whereas Embry-Riddle surged late and only scored in the second.
A corner kick by Flagler in the 15th minute sent the ball into the goal box. After multiple deflections, the Saints' Matteo Costa found an opening and tapped it over the line for the opening goal.
Flagler converted on another opportunity in the 31st minute on a failed clearance by the Eagles. Embry-Riddle tried to boot it out of their defensive end, but the ball was intercepted by the Saints. With a few short passes, Costa scored again when Marc Birkelund found him open in front of the net.
Costa then completed the hat-trick just three minutes later. A cross by Jared Fuentes sped across the grass to Costa, who was once again just a few feet away from the net. He hit it in to increase the Eagles' deficit to three. It was a lopsided first half as Embry-Riddle was outshot 11-3.
However, the Eagles attacked out of the break. In the 54th minute,
Louis Walker found space inside the box and chipped the ball over a Flagler defender to
Sandro Henning, who headed it in for his first goal of the season.
Jake Joyce capped the scoring in the 73rd minute when he received a pass from
Eden Bokobza, dribbled, and powered a shot off the fingers of the Saints' keeper to bring the Blue and Gold within one.
Olav Olsen Aamlid led the Eagles in shots with three of the team's 10. Starting netminder
Thomas Loesel recorded six saves.
Embry-Riddle continues its five-match road trip on Saturday. The Eagles venture out of Florida for the only time during the regular season for a contest against Georgia Southwestern State on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.
The 2021 Embry-Riddle Men's Soccer season is presented by Radiology Associates.
