LAKELAND, Fla.—The Fire men's soccer team picked up their fourth consecutive victory with a 4-0 shutout against Webber behind a flurry of second half goals Wednesday night.
From the opening whistle, Southeastern took control of the game. The Fire dominated both possession and scoring chances but were unable to find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes.
After out-shooting the Warriors 8-2 in a relatively uneventful first half, Southeastern broke through in the 49
th minute.
Jonathan Jimenez drove down the right wing and was taken down by a Webber defender, setting up a free kick in a dangerous area.
Gustavo Rodrigues floated a ball into the box, which
Tauan Salgado met in mid-air. Salgado's header looped just out of the reach of the keeper and under the bar to put the Fire up 1-0 on the forward's team-high fifth goal of the season.
Not even ten minutes later, Jimenez and Rodrigues combined to double Southeastern's advantage. Rodrigues turned away from a defender on the right wing and sent a through ball to Jimenez who was streaking into the penalty area. Jimenez rocketed a shot from the right side of the box into the left side netting for his second tally of the year.
From this point on, the Fire dictated play with their possession.
After a Webber own goal made the score 3-0 in the 65
th minute,
Lucas DePaula Faggoti put the game out of reach just over two minutes later. The junior transfer collected a ball around 30 yards out, sped by a Webber defender, and slotted the ball under the goalie for his first goal of 2017 and the fourth of the game for Southeastern.
The closest the Warriors came to finding the back of the net came off of chances in the 71
st minute. Sam Todd hit a well-struck shot from about 25 yards out that was dipping under the bar. Southeastern goalkeeper
Jorge Navarrete lunged backward, tipped the ball off of the crossbar, and recovered in time to save a follow up attempt by Webber's Charlie Lambert.
Navarrete ended the night with four saves to earn his third clean sheet of the season.
With the 4-0 triumph, the Fire improved to 5-4-1 (3-1-1 TSC) on the year.
Southeastern will be back on their home field when they battle St. Thomas on Saturday. Kickoff against the conference-leading Bobcats is scheduled for 7 p.m.
