LAKELAND, Fla. – The 15
th ranked Southeastern men's soccer team dropped a couple of close road games this past week to fall to 2-4 on the season. The Fire fell 3-2 to William Carey University on Thursday and lost an overtime-thriller to University of Mobile 3-2. In the game versus Mobile, redshirt freshman
Tevin Gage netted a goal with 1 minute and 30 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to an extra period. The Fire will look to get back on track after a tough end to the road trip as the team comes home to the SEU Soccer Field for the first time in 2016.
GAME: (15) Southeastern (2-4) vs. Truett McConnell University (2-2) | Thursday 7:30 p.m.
COVERAGE: Watch Stats
FULL OF THRILLS: The Fire have already been a part of three overtime games this season, posting a 1-2 record in those contests. The team has already seen more games go to an extra period this season than the 2015 regular season, where the Fire only played one overtime match. Men's Soccer is an impressive 14-7-5 in overtime all-time since joining the NAIA in 2009. SEU has proven to be a second-half team this year that finds most of its scoring during crunch time. The Fire have scored 84.6 percent of its goals in the second half with 61.5 percent coming in the 60
th minute or later.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Through six games played, no player has asserted himself has the dominant scorer. Five different players have netted two or more goals for the Fire. Seven different players total have recorded a score for the team in 2016. Sophomore forward
Jake Van Der Luit leads the Fire in scoring with three goals and in total points with seven. He was the team's second leading-scorer last season.
FIRST IMPRESSION: This will be the first time the Fire have faced Truett McConnell since joining the NAIA in 2009.
THE BEARS: Truett McConnell is coming off its first ten win season since joining the Appalachian Athletic Conference in 2013. After jumping out to a 2-0 start this season, the Bears have dropped their last two games to Middle Georgia State and St. Andrews (N.C.). The team has allowed an average of 3.25 goals per game this season. The Bears are led on the field by a couple of new faces to the program. Joao Costa, a sophomore forward from Brazil, leads the team in scoring with seven goals, has scored in every game this season, and recorded a hat trick in his debut with the team. The team is also led by junior forward Cyril Gadu, a Park University transfer who was First-Team All-Conference in two years of play. Gadu leads the team in assists with three and has netted one goal. The Bears are coached by Rob Miller.
