LAKELAND, Fla. – This evening, a storybook season could leave readers cliff hanging or conclude for good as the Southeastern men's soccer team plays for the 2015 Sun Conference Title and an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
After the semifinal was postponed due to inclement weather Saturday night, the Fire defeated the Keiser University Seahawks yesterday afternoon 2-1 in overtime for a chance at the title.
"It's kind of been a storybook season, so this is a new feeling for everybody and it took us a little bit to get going," said Coach
Clay Roberts. "Once we settled down and started to get into our rhythm the game started to change for us."
Two freshmen were responsible for the season's continuation as
Luke Marchesani netted the equalizer in the 60
th minute and
Jake Van Der Luit the golden goal seven minutes into overtime.
"The qualities that these guys possess as freshmen are tremendous and I'm proud of them for stepping up and playing above their years," said Roberts.
In just a few hours, the first seeded Fire will go head-to-head with the Bobcats of second seeded St. Thomas University and the winner takes all. St. Thomas defeated the third seed, Thomas University, 1-0 on Saturday before the storms rolled in.
Previously this season, Southeastern defeated St. Thomas 3-0 in Miami on October 7
th for their second conference win of the season and their second of seven total shutouts.
Twelve shots apiece evidence a fairly evenly matched game, but the Fire defense was relentless as the Bobcats had nine chances from the corner and couldn't produce. Keeper
Jorge Navarrete had seven saves in 90 minutes.
The game winner was credited to junior midfielder
Victor Reyes in just the 7
th minute of play followed by a
Pedro Ivo Dias goal in the 41
st.
Ikenna Abika topped it off with the third goal in the 87
th minute.
Ivo Dias, the TSC Offensive Player of the Year, leads the Fire with 10 goals on the season and is second on the team in assists with six.
Gerritson Craane, a second team all-conference recipient, has four goals and the team high ten assists including his most recent for the semifinal game winner over Keiser.
The Bobcats are led by junior midfielders Kris Wilkinson, also a second team all-conference recipient, and Fabian Heinrich, a first team all-conference recipient, who both have five goals on the season. Nico Sobanski netted just his second of the season for the game winner in the semifinal victory over Thomas.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Southeastern Soccer Complex in Lakeland. Be sure to follow @TSCSports and @SEUFireMSoccer on Twitter for updates.
