LAKELAND, Fla.—A goal with 20 seconds left in the first half put Southeastern down 2-0 to Florida Memorial at halftime.
Things turned for the Fire in the second half, scoring three goals in 23 minutes to come away with a 3-2 victory for their 10
th win of the season.
"This was always going to be a big game with the weight of it in the standings," said coach
Clay Roberts. "They came after us and had a great first half; to go up 2-0 kind of shocked us."
The Lions got a goal when Tibo Gobet connected a pass to Matthis Counet on the left wing in the 21
st minute, then a goal by Kervens Joseph in the 45
th minute gave Florida Memorial (7-7-2, 6-6-1 SUN) the two-goal lead at halftime.
"We have to respond; we're not competing and we're not playing our game and we have to find some sort of rhythm and find our way," said Roberts of the halftime message.
Just over a minute into the half,
Chris Thorpe broke through the defense but his shot smacked the near post.
"The bench kind of came alive and you need some luck and some things to go your way," said Roberts of the shot by Thorpe.
Twelve minutes later,
Murilo Ramos scored his first goal of the season working his way in to the box and smashing a shot into the back of the net to the far post.
"We needed a spark from somebody and compete at the level we're capable of," said Roberts. "Pair that with a fantastic defensive effort against a really good team that get a lot of balls to the box."
In the 63
rd minute
Edward Alderson was taken down in the box to draw a penalty kick which
Victor Cavalcante scored to even the match.
Cavalcante scored the game winner off a left-footed free kick in the 80
th minute.
The Fire also had to scramble a couple of times on defense, getting a save from freshman keeper
Esteban Navarrete with 6:32 left which the Fire turned into a counter attack when a shot by
Edoardo Venutolo's shot was blocked just in front of the goal line.
"He's been right there all year," said Roberts of Navarrete. "He had some great saves at the end."
Navarrete made six saves in 73 minutes in goal.
The win gave Southeastern 25 points in The Sun Conference standings, six points clear of Florida Memorial in fourth which secures the No. 3 seed in next week's conference tournament and a home game on Saturday, November 4
th.
The Fire will travel to SCAD on Saturday to conclude the regular season.
