LAKELAND, Fla.—After their double-overtime nail-biting win over Ave Maria this past Saturday, the men's soccer team clinched the fourth seed in the Sun Conference Tournament, meaning they will host the fifth seed, SCAD, this upcoming Saturday.
Southeastern went on a run mid-way through the year, winning seven of its final 11 matches, ensuring itself a spot in the conference tournament.
The Fire then ended their regular season with back-to-back one goal victories against Trinity Baptist and Ave Maria, and will look to carry this momentum into postseason play.
Both game-winning goals involved the creativity of Gustavo Rodrigues, who will be a significant offensive threat for the Fire as they face the Bees. In the Trinity Baptist game, the senior midfielder took a hard foul at the edge of the box and played a searching ball into the area from the ensuing set piece that was eventually tapped home by Caue Salgado. Rodrigues, who has assisted on a conference-most ten goals for the Fire this year, added to that total with a helper on the game-winner. The goal was the only of the contest, giving Southeastern a 1-0 triumph on Senior Night.
Versus Ave Maria, Rodrigues provided heroics in the waning moments of extra time. With 15 minutes left until the competition would be ruled a tie, Rodrigues polished off a rebound to give the Fire a 3-2 victory and extend his active point streak to four straight games. Had that game finished in a tie, the Fire would have ended up travelling to SCAD.
The Rio de Janeiro, Brazil native ranks 12
th in the NAIA in assists per match (.67), while his ten helpers rank 13
th.
SCAD finished their regular season with three consecutive wins over conference opponents before falling to top seeded St. Thomas in their finale.
Cian Lynch, who is tied for the Sun Conference lead with 14 goals on the season, will be a player to watch for SCAD. The freshman forward comes into the match with the Fire ranked ninth in the country in goals per game (1.08) and 20
th in points per game (2.23), while taking the most shots of any SCAD player in 2017 (45).
The Dublin, Ireland native has scored in each of the past three competitions for the Bees, including two multi-goal performances.
The Fire and the Bees met earlier this season in Hardeeville, South Carolina, in an overtime contest that saw Southeastern prevail 3-2. In the game, Lynch opened the scoring with a tally only five minutes in. The match featured back and forth play, as the teams alternated goals and went into the break tied at two.
After a goalless second half, Rodrigues bent a free kick around the wall, out of the reach of the SCAD goalkeeper, and into the net to give the Fire a 3-2 victory.
If the past is any indication of what might happen, the contest should be a close one. Six out of the past seven times the teams have met, the match has been decided by a single goal. Recently, Southeastern has gotten the better of SCAD, by beating the Bees in the regular season each of the past three years; however, the Fire and the Bees have never met in postseason play.
The home match is scheduled to kick off at 1:30 p.m. The winner will take on St. Thomas in the semifinal round.
