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Rafael Segal scored two goals and assisted another, thwarting a strong defensive effort by the Moccasins as the University of West Florida downed Florida Southern 3-1.
Florida Southern (1-4) held West Florida (5-0-1) to just seven shots in the game, but the Argonauts scored on three of them, including two in the first half to take a 2-0 lead. Segal scored the first one and assisted the second.
It was actually Florida Southern though, which had the initial scoring chance of the game. Just over nine minutes into the match, Patrik Dandanell had a good look at the goal from inside the box, but West Florida midfielder Curtis Brashear blocked the shot to keep the Mocs off the board.
Two minutes later, the Argos worked the ball down the left flank with Paul Willoughby sending a cross off the end line into the box. Segal came across from the middle and connected on a header in front of the near post for the first goal of the game.
Segal later brought the ball down himself to create the second goal, feeding Matt Williams on the run. Williams slipped through the middle of the Moccasin defense to knock home a shot in the 29th minute that put the Argonauts on top 2-0.
The game was largely a struggle for either team to find shooting space, even more so after the Argonauts had their two-goal advantage. The Argos held a 5-3 edge in shots during the first half, but the Mocs turned it around in the second half and out-shot the Argos 5-2.
The Moccasins had two chances early in the second half to pull within one. A strong serve by Matt Macias out of the corner set up a header by Garrett Gaa in the middle of the box, but goalkeeper David McNally was equal to the task. Not long after, it was Eoghan Conlon playing a similar ball into the box that was inches away from another header by Gaa.
West Florida's first shot of the second half actually came on a penalty kick in the 65th minute. Segal converted for his second goal of the day and his eighth of the season. Just three minutes later, Marquel Waldron got off a rocket from the top of the box that FSC goalkeeper Paul DiPalma saved, and that was the last shot taken by West Florida.
The Moccasins weren't finished though. They had another near miss on a header by Macias in the 70th minute before Dandanell broke up the Argos' shutout in the 85th.
Florida Southern will open Sunshine State Conference play on Friday in Winter Park with a match at Rollins College beginning at 7:00 p.m.
