DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A stout defensive performance by the Embry-Riddle men's soccer team paid off when Sandro Henning's successful penalty kick in the 84th minute secured a 1-0 win for the Eagles against Florida Memorial on Saturday night. Late-afternoon thunderstorms delayed the contest by a couple minutes.
 
Both squads finished equal in the shot column with 15 a piece, but the Lions (0-4-1) put nine on goal compared to three for the Eagles (2-2-1). Starting keeper Thomas Loesel bested his single-match career high in saves he set in the season-opening match by turning away all nine of FMU's scoring chances. Offensively, Eden Bokobza and Tom Shepherd led in shots for the Blue and Gold with four each.
 
Shepherd hoped to get the scoring going early in the fifth minute when he curved a shot from the edge of the left side of the box, but it didn't slice enough and went just wide of the top right corner. Thirty minutes passed until the next prime scoring opportunity for eight team. Amit Libgot sprinted down the left side of the field and battled a Lion defender for possession of a pass. Once in control of the ball, the sophomore one-touched the ball and fired a laser toward the net. Unfortunately, the shot bounced off the right post.
 
At the break, neither squad was able to score, though Embry-Riddle did have the edge in shots 7-4.
 
Florida Memorial threatened to break the draw 10 ticks into the second half. A Lion attempted to cross the ball in, but Loesel dove to disrupt the pass. However, the ball deflected out to an FMU player in the center of the box.  He fired away from about 15 feet out, but Loesel stuck his right foot out to just deflect the ball in time.
 
Fast-forward to the 69th minute and the Eagles were poised to strike. Stefano Grimaldi trapped the ball on the right side and crossed it in to Anthony Velez near the far left post. Velez managed the leap in the air and connect on the pass with his head, but his shot scraped by the woodwork.
 
Over the final 10 minutes, Loesel made multiple impressive saves to help keep FMU off the scoreboard. The Boca Raton, Florida, native dove to send a shot wide with 9:30 remaining on the clock. Loesel made another stop one minute later on a shot from point-blank range. With minimal time to react, he stuck his hands out to deny the Lions a goal from twenty feet away.
 
Soon after, Henning dribbled through multiple defenders and passed the ball to Shepherd, who was set up just to the right of the center of the box. Shepherd cut to his left, but was unjustly tackled by FMU, resulting in a penalty kick. Having been successful on a PK against Rollins earlier in the season, Henning stepped up to take the free shot and bested the goalie by sending the ball through the bottom left corner to put Embry-Riddle ahead 1-0.
 
The Lions made one last effort to knot the score with three minutes remaining. On another shot from about 15 feet away, Loesel bent down and sent the shot back out into the open field with a fantastic block with his knees.
 
The Eagles improve to 9-1 all-time against the Lions. This was the first meeting between the two programs since 2014.
 
Embry-Riddle begins conference play on Wednesday, September 14 when the Eagles travel to Tampa to face the Spartans at 7 p.m. The 2022 Embry-Riddle Men's Soccer season is presented by Radiology Associates.