LAKELAND, Fla. - For the third year in a row, the Fire men's soccer team will make a postseason appearance. In a must win situation this past Monday, the Fire kept their season alive with a 1-0 win against Ave Maria University to earn their playoff berth. The men are aiming to duplicate last year's results by capturing a Sun Conference tournament title and strive to make a deep run in the NAIA National Tournament.
TSC Game 1: #5 Southeastern University (9-8, The Sun Conference 6-3) at #4 Keiser University (7-4-3, The Sun Conference 5-1-3)
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The Fire: As of late, Southeastern has been playing fundamentally sound soccer capturing six wins in their last seven games. The Fire are led on offense by the sophomore from Chicago, Illinois Jake Van Der Luit. The forward has notched nine goals on the season with 22 shots on net. Van Der Luit is no stranger to postseason scoring. As a freshman last year, Van Der Luit scored four postseason goals to help the Fire reach the Sweet 16.
In his first season with the Fire, Tauan Salgado has also played an intricate part in the attack. The transfer from Lindsey Wilson College has had a solid season netting seven goals and assisting in four.
The third member of the attacking trio comes in the the form of Gerritson Craane. In his senior season, Craane leads the team in assists with four and has also found the back of the net four times. Craane has also played a big part in the Fire's postseason play recording two assists, one of which set up a game winning goal over Keiser.
Past Meetings with the Seahawks: In the past three matches between the Fire and the Seahawks, the Fire lead the series 2-1. All three matches between the teams have been tightly contested with the margin of victory being one goal. The Seahawks and the Fire have squared off in tournament play before with the Fire securing a 2-1 victory in last year's overtime thriller. Van Der Luit was the hero last year in the 96th minute when his header found the netting to put Fire through to the next round.
The Seahawks: Joe Zakowicz is in the fourth season at the helm of the Seahawks. The team is coming off of a 2-2 tie against Johnson & Wales University at home. Leading the attack for the Seahawks is Reece Weldon. The junior from Dublin, Ireland has recorded an impressive 33 points on the season. Weldon has been apart of 22 goals scoring 11 and assisting in 11.
Aiding in the offensive front for the Seahawks is the junior from Rabat, Morocco Amine Maski. The midfielder has scored five goals and has assisted in two. Maski has launched 28 shots this season 16 of which have been on net.
Keiser's netminder is Lee Clark. The senior native of Newcastle, England possess a 5-4-2 record with two shutouts. In his 1,320 minutes of play, Clark has recorded 39 saves and aims to keep the relentless Fire attack out of the net.
Closing Thoughts: Sun Conference Tournament play is unlike anything else. The records for both teams are reset to 0-0 and it is at this time where the teams have to dig deep if they look to advance deeper into the tournament. The match in West Palm Beach will be nothing short of exhilarating. Keiser had the upper hand this year with as they secured a 3-2 win over the Fire, but tournament play brings out a different Fire team. Southeastern went 3-1 in postseason play last year and looks to bring a newfound intensity into the match on Saturday.
For updates, be sure to follow @SEUFireMSoccer on Twitter.
