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Down 3-0 late in the second half, it would have been easy for Florida Southern to roll over and accept what only seemed inevitable against the 25th-ranked team in the country. The Moccasins decided they'd rather do things the hard way, and the result was a thrilling finish in which they came up just short in a 3-2 setback.
"This team revealed its character tonight," said coach Hugh Seyfarth. "Coming back from down 3-0 and almost pulling it out. We missed some chances, hit the post three or four times, or it could have been a different result at the end."
It nearly was. The Buccaneers (7-1, 2-0) scored their first goal of the night less than eight minutes into the match, then added goals in the 51st and 71st minutes. Yet all throughout, the Moccasins (1-6, 0-2) still applied pressure, still had quality shots and came back time and time again. They out-shot Barry 20-17, the goalkeepers combined for 17 saves, and the final score could have easily been 7-6 - in favor of either side.
After the Bucs' third goal, the Mocs fired off three shots in rapid-fire succession, forcing Barry goalkeeper Devala Gorrick into two saves. They finally broke through in the 83rd minute when Sebastian Haupt took a crossing pass from Daniel Heaney on the right side of the box and connected on an 18-yard shot back across the goal.
Clearly energized, the Mocs came right back with another one, again set up by a Heaney pass. His cross out of the left corner forced Gorrick to come out and punch the ball away, but it ended up right at the feet of Givi Kokaia. His shot from the top of the box found the net, and just like that it was 3-2.
In the 87th minute, Kokaia had another strong shot from the right wing, but this one was saved by Gorrick. It was the Mocs' final shot of the night.
There was no shortage of chances for either team, and all of them seemed to be goals or near-goals. Johan Jonsson made 10 saves for the Moccasins, the most by a Florida Southern goalkeeper in five years. He also broke up a 3-on-1 by the Buccaneers, a play in which Mark Anderson pushed the ball out a little too far for a shot to be taken.
Around the same time, when they trailed 2-0, the Mocs twice hit the crossbar, coming perhaps a combined two inches from tying the game. The first of those was a shot by Heaney that rebounded right to Patrk Dandanell in the box. However, his strong shot was saved by Gorrick. Then David Fletcher hit the bottom of the crossbar, which was closely followed by a shot from Garrett Gaa that was also saved by Gorrick.
Matt Macias also had a go at one early in the second half that was just over the crossbar. It would have been a fitting goal for Macias, who played a brilliant game for the Moccasins. If not for Macias, the damage could have been worse than 17 shots as the redshirt sophomore always seemed a step ahead of any attempted plays out of the left corner.
The Bucs, of course, still found a way to score three times with Anderson picking up a goal and an assist, Vuk Kojic scoring once, and Ryan Alexander also tallying a goal. Kojic's goal came first when he took a long pass from defender Rodrigo Mancenido into the box and beat Jonsson with a shot to the far post.
It remained 1-0 until Anderson scored five-and-a-half minutes into the second half following sequence passing from midfielders Mark Kilpartrick and Sascha Koettig that led him into the middle of the box. It marked the seventh straight game in which Anderson scored a goal. He then intercepted a pass out of the back in the 71st minute and quickly fed Alexander on the other side of the field for his first goal of the season.
Florida Southern remains in conference for its next match, hosting Nova Southeastern on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
