Lakeland, Fla. - The Southeastern Men's Soccer team defeated the Marian University Knights 5-2 in their first game of the SCAD Invitational and improved their record to 2-1 on the season. Five different players netted goals for the Fire, something the team only did once in 2015.
The Fire struck first, as junior forward
Tauan Salgado took the forward pass from junior midfielder
Gustavo Rodrigues and was able to put one in past the Knight's defense to give SEU a 1-0 lead in the 10
th minute. The score was Salgado's second of the season.
However, the Knights answered back as junior midfielder Joey Radcliffe was able to get behind the Fire defense and put one in the bottom right corner of the goal in the 30
th minute. Junior Forward Zach Sneiderwine gave Marian the 2-1 lead on a penalty kick goal in the 38
th minute.
The Fire outshot the Knights 9-3 and 3-2 in shots on goal in the first half. However, for the third straight game in 2016, the Fire trailed at the half.
It did not take the Fire long to even things up in the second half, as senior forward
Gerritson Craane maneuvered around the left side of the Knight's defense and scored his first goal of 2016. Less than five minutes later, sophomore forward
Jake Van Der Luit took a short pass in the box from senior midfielder
Corey Mills and knocked in his second goal of the season to give the Fire a 3-2 lead in the 60
th minute.
The Fire added onto their lead in 69
th minute, as freshman forward
Tevin Gage netted his first goal of 2016 on a cross from Craane. SEU capped off an explosive second half with freshman midfielder
Nik Meche netting the first goal of his collegiate career off of an assist by junior forward
Ikenna Abika. The score gave the Fire a 5-2 lead in the 85
th minute and was the last goal of the game.
"We made a few adjustments in how we were attacking that let us pick some good places to get behind their defense with our speed. With Tauan, Jake, Gerritson, and Tevin producing goals, it took the pressure off of us," commented Head Coach
Clay Roberts.
The Fire outshot the Knights 18-9 in the game. Sophomore goalkeeper
Jorge Navarrete picked up his second win of the season.
The Fire now turns its attention to game two of the SCAD Invitational, where they will take on number one ranked and defending national champion Rio Grande (Ohio). The game is set for tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
"If we can get into our rhythm early and set the tempo of the game, we will produce opportunities to score. We are excited for the matchup and need to be sharp the entire game," shared Coach Roberts.
Â
