DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Embry-Riddle (9-3-5, 5-1-4) fell to Tampa (6-6-4, 4-4-2) 2-1 on Monday night at Embry-Riddle Soccer Stadium in the quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.
This result will mark the end to what has been an incredible season for the Eagles. Entering off of a season with a 2-13-2 overall record and an 0-9-1 conference record, the SSC Preseason Coaches' Poll picked the Blue and Gold to finish 10th of 11 programs in the standings. Despite this, the Eagles recorded what has been their best season since elevating to the Division II level in 2015.
Embry-Riddle took home nine total wins and five conference wins, marking DII program highs in both categories. The Eagles finished second in the regular season standings, topping their previous best SSC finish of 10th. Not only did the second place finish let the Eagles advance to the conference tournament for the first time, but they were also able to act as the hosts for the match tonight, which had 450 people in attendance.
ERAU saw its first wins at this level against nationally ranked opponents with an overall 2-1-1 record in such games. The results included a win at then No. 1 Rollins, a victory over No. 22 Florida Tech, and a draw at No. 5 Florida Southern. They also picked up their first win in program history over Tampa back on October 3.
Coach Dave Gregson finishes off his 33rd season with the program with a new win total of 278. Advancing the ERAU program to 298 all-time wins. His team put forth the highest single season win total under his direction since the 2013 squad went 14-3-1.
Marcos da Silva highlighted the season being named SSC Defensive Player of the Week on three separate occasions, the only such player in the conference to do so. Additionally, he moves to fourth in program history in goals against average allowing only 0.94 goals per game. His five shutouts are also good enough for fifth all time in a season. da Silva played all 1530 minutes of the season in goal.
Lukas Bludau led the team in points on the year with 13 total. His six goals tied a team high with
Jonas Banouas and his one assist gave him the edge. Banouas led the team with 29 total shots, 19 of which were on goal. Recording a total of four game winning goals, tying the sixth most in team history in a season.
Louis Dolcini and
Joseph Ben-Ezra's three assists tied the team lead on the year.
Game Recap
Tampa opened the scoring on the night near the end of the first half, when Jalian Tover gathered and stuck in a deflected cross from Robin Vandoorne at 41:58. The second goal of the night belonged to the Spartan's Tommaso Polidori as he managed to head in Felix Poschmann's corner kick. A strong late push from the Eagles saw
Gianmarco Bertolini find the net off of an assist from
Rimon Beyene on a corner kick of his own in the 77th minute. The Embry-Riddle fans were brought back to life as the Eagles pushed one attack after another, but were unable to secure the game tying goal.
ERAU generated nine of its 11 shots in the second half and put five shots on goal for the match. Tampa finished with a 14-11 edge in shots and a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal, while the Eagles made five saves.
First Half
- da Silva kept Tampa off the board early, saving shots from Taka Onoguchi at 1:22 and Christian Fairchild at 6:25, while Bertolini put the Blue and Gold's first shot wide at 5:06.
- Tampa applied pressure midway through the half with two corner kicks and three shots between 20:01 and 26:50, including a Felix Poschmann attempt saved by da Silva.
- ERAU looked for a response with
Chris Kin's shot at 29:39, but Tampa broke through at 41:58 when Tovar scored off Vandoorne's assist for a 1-0 halftime lead.
Second Half
- Embry-Riddle had an early corner and a
Louis Dolcini shot, but Tampa made it 2-0 at 55:26 when Polidori scored off a Poschmann assist.
- The Eagles generated chances from
Joseph Ben-Ezra, Bludau and Banouas, while da Silva saved a Polidori shot at 65:23 to keep the margin at 2-0.
- The late push produced a
Chris Kin shot and consecutive corners before Bertolini scored from Beyene's assist at 77:18 to make it 2-1. It was Bertolini's first goal of the season.
- Bertolini added three more shots down the stretch, including saves by Alex Hare at 83:06 and 88:21, but Tampa held on for the 2-1 result.
Inside the Stats
- Bertolini scored the Eagles goal, his first of the season, in addition to leading the team with five shots, including three on goal.
- Beyene recorded his second assist of the season.
- da Silva finished with five saves.
The 2026 Eagles finish with a 9-3-5 overall record and as the off-season approaches, they'll look to continue to build upon the success that was found this year.
