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Watching Tuesday night's match between Florida Southern and Flagler was much like watching two different games - a quiet one with little to talk about in the first half, and a much louder, more aggressive one in the second half. In the end, however, a goal by Conor Killeen with 3:12 remaining was enough to lift Flagler to a 1-0 win.
The first half saw the Moccasins (3-7) attempt only two shots while the Saints (5-4-1) had five, and each team also took just one corner kick, neither of which resulted in a shot. None of the shots taken were especially strong chances, though, and each goalkeeper had to make just one save.
Zach Volpi's was the more difficult of the two, and came in the 43rd minute. When Patrik Dandanell broke free in the left corner of the box, Volpi stepped out and appeared to get a hand on a crossing shot, deflecting it back into the field of play. The Mocs were unable to recover it for a second chance.
If the Saints controlled play for most of the first half, the Moccasins did so in the second. They equaled their shot total from the first half in the first five minutes of the second when Dandanell and Givi Kokaia both had opportunities in the early going. Sebastian Haupt flirted with a goal in the 57th minute as well, taking a pass from Dandanell on the right end line and firing a shot at close range that was saved by Volpi.
"The guys took the direction we gave them at halftime very well," said coach Hugh Seyfarth. "We wanted to get wider to create more scoring chances and we played a much better game in the second half. We were able to take a lot more shots, but just didn't get the end result."
In the 70th minute, the Mocs earned three corner kicks and nearly scored off the last one when Ashley Holmes sent a header wide of the net. The Saints came right back after that and got a header attempt from Eammon Murphy that was grabbed by Johan Jonsson. Three minutes later, Flagler defender David Iafrate launched a shot from nearly 40 yards out that hit the crossbar but bounced out of play.
Momentum swung back in the Moccasins' favor after that and they nearly put two goals on the board in the 79th and 84th minutes. The first one came after the Saints were called for a foul in the middle of the field, and Dandanell used a quick kick to start the play. Kokaia got free for a good look at the goal, but his shot was saved by Volpi. Not long after, Kokaia had another good chance with a header inside the box, but it was just high to keep the game scoreless.
It didn't remain that way much longer though. The Saints finally broke the deadlock in the 87th minute after Johan Bergfeld won the ball in the right corner. His pass to Fredrik Ericsson was sent on to Killeen, who converted a shot in front of the near post for the game-winner.
At that point, the Flagler strategy changed to simply running out the clock. It worked almost perfectly too, and any push forward by Florida Southern was answered with long booming clears back down the field. The Saints nearly lost control of it in the closing seconds, however, when they were whistled for offside and the clock was stopped to prevent any stalling.
With 3.1 seconds remaining, Emil Kumlin sent a long ball into the box that had a chance to be played, but Volpi went up to knock it over the crossbar as time expired.
"I loved the effort tonight, just not the result," said Seyfarth. "Flagler is a good team, having a good season. We didn't do enough to win the game, but neither did we deserve to lose. We'll get some bodies back now as we head back into conference play and get ready for Eckerd on Saturday."
