LAKELAND, Fla. – Southeastern men's soccer added a tally to each column last week, defeating Keiser 1-0 in their first Sun Conference match of the season, then falling to Johnson and Wales 4-3 on Saturday.
The Fire played 68 minutes of scoreless soccer against Keiser before
Corey Mills, a junior transfer from Florida Southern, netted his first goal of the season in the 69
th minute with a service from
Nick Wilson.
"We started and executed the game plan exactly as we wanted," said Coach
Clay Roberts. "Our mental game was very sharp and we limited mistakes."
The scoreboard looked quite different on Saturday evening as the Wildcats drew first blood 13 and a half minutes into the match. Just 24 seconds later,
Alan Hackney countered, assisted by
Gerritson Craane, with a hard strike hard from 10 yards out.
At half, the Fire were down 3-2 after two Wildcat goals in the 35
th and 41
st minutes and
Pedro Ivo Dias' first goal of the night in the 42
nd.
Ivo Dias put threes on the board just over eight minutes into the second half and the draw held until the 81
st minute when the Wildcats put it away for good.
"We demonstrated that we can be dangerous going forward and dictate the flow of the game, but we have to play a more mentally sharp game in The Sun Conference and limit mistakes that result in goals against," said Roberts.
UP NEXT:@ St. Thomas University (TSC), Miami Gardens, Florida, Wednesday 4 p.m.Last Year: : 3-15, 3-7 TSC, Lost to SEU 6-3 on October 15, 2014, Eighth seed in post season TSC play, Lost to first seed SCAD 4-3 in 3OT after a 1-1 draw was broken by PK's, 3-2
This Year: 5-3, 2-0 TSC, Ranked sixth in TSC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Most recently defeated SCAD 2-1 and Thomas 2-1
Quotable: "I think the St. Thomas game will be played exactly like the JWU game as they play a similar style and have similar quality in personnel. If we start in a focused and determined manner, I believe we can dictate the tempo and flow of the game resulting in opportunities up top. Then, we'll just need to finish well." – Coach
Clay Roberts @ Florida Memorial University (TSC), Miami Gardens, Florida, Saturday 4 p.m.Last Year: 12-5, 8-2 TSC, Defeated SEU 1-0 on October 18, 2014, Second seed in post season TSC play, Defeated seventh seed Warner 2-0 in quarterfinal game, Lost to third seed Thomas 2-0 in the semifinals
This Year: 6-4, 1-1 TSC, Ranked third in TSC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Ranked 18
th in first NAIA men's soccer top 25 poll on 9/22, Ranked 22
nd in the same poll on 9/29, Most recently lost to Thomas 2-1 in OT then defeated SCAD 2-1
Quotable: "It's going to be a very tough game in the sense that both of us play a possession oriented style. They are a top team in our conference, but I believe that we will be able to penetrate the defense with our timely runs and creative movement in the attack. We will need a strong and organized defensive effort to earn the victory." – Coach
Clay Roberts For all things Fire men's soccer including scores and updates from these upcoming matches, be sure to follow @SEUFireMSoccer on Twitter.
