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For those wanting to see a lot of goals scored, Saturday night's match at Barnett Field was for you. There were plenty of them, and plenty more that could have been scored. Luke Sheekey didn't miss many chances though, and led by his three goals and one assist, Eckerd hung on for a 5-3 victory over Florida Southern.
Sheekey began the night with 10 goals and nine assists on the season, ranking sixth in the country in scoring. He'll move up after Saturday's game in which he registered his third hat trick of the season, and second in Sunshine State Conference play. Yet, for all the scoring done by the junior forward, it was barely enough to hold off the Moccasins.
The opening 12 minutes were a preview of how the match would be played. During that time, there were three goals scored, with eight shots and five corner kicks. It was also a snap-shot of how Eckerd's season has gone so far. The Tritons (8-4, 3-2) came into the game having scored the second most goals in SSC play, and giving up the second most on the other end of the field. In two of their conference games, the Tritons had scored at least four goals, and in the other two, they'd allowed at least four. They nearly did both on Saturday.
Florida Southern (3-8, 2-3) scored first when Ashley Holmes headed in a corner kick from Dennie Townsend just over five minutes into the game. Five minutes later, the game was tied when Sheekey converted a penalty kick, and 86 seconds after that, Eckerd had the lead when Sheekey scored again.
"Sheekey is a great player, one of the best in this league," said Seyfarth. "You can't lose the mark on him like we did on his second goal."
That goal came right in the middle of the box after Alex Patterson had started the play with a pass down the right flank. Will Thacker then centered it, and Sheekey came free for his 12th goal of the season.
The game settled down (somewhat) for the remainder of the first half as neither team could score again before halftime. It wasn't for lack of trying. In the few minutes after Eckerd went up 2-1, Moccasin goalkeeper Paul DiPalma had to save another shot by Sheekey, and the Tritons' Adam Skiff saved one by Givi Kokaia.
DiPalma later made an even bigger save against Joseph Ilett as the Eckerd midfielder made a long run on a break-away. DiPalma came out and deflected the shot, and Eckerd was unable to do anything with the ensuing corner kick.
The second half started much the same way as the first, with plenty of action right from the start. Each team had a shot in the first 90 seconds, and the Tritons got two more after a corner kick in the 54th minute. Ilett then hit a running header at the back post in the 57th, turning a long cross out of the corner from Greg Cavallini into a 3-1 Eckerd lead.
The Mocs struck quickly after that when Emil Kumlin knocked home a penalty kick to make it 3-2 with just under 29 minutes to play. Back came Eckerd, though, as Sheekey and Ilett set up another header, this one by Colin Kuhn that made the score 4-2.
Florida Southern responded yet again in the 81st minute. The Mocs had applied pressure on the Eckerd defense only to be turned away, but Kokaia gained control of the ball on the right wing and fired a quick shot on goal from the top of the box. The ball banked off the right post and into the net for his team-leading seventh goal of the season, pulling the Mocs within 4-3.
The scoring still wasn't finished. Two minutes after the goal by Kokaia, Sheekey finished his hat trick by sending a shot from outside the box that appeared to hit off the leg of a defender and ricochet into the net away from DiPalma.
The Moccasins were unable to mount a strong attack after that as the Tritons held on for the win.
"Eckerd played as we expected, but we didn't come to play tonight," said Seyfarth. "The first half was horrible, yet we were only down 2-1. We missed a big opportunity tonight with five teams tied with 2-2 records in the SSC. This was a six-point swing in the standings."
DiPalma finished with six saves in the match, and Skiff made four on the Eckerd side. Skiff was making the first start of his career with regular goalkeeper Domenic Spedaliere out after receiving a red card in the previous game. The Tritons finished with an 18-14 advantage in shots.
The 5-3 score equaled the highest scoring game in the long-running series between the two teams that dates back almost uninterrupted to 1968. The Moccasins had won a 5-3 decision over the Tritons in 1970.
Florida Southern will host Saint Leo in its next game, on Wednesday night at 7:00.
