Turn-Around Season by the Mocs Ends With Loss at Florida Tech

MELBOURNE â€" An incredible turn-around season by the Florida Southern men’s soccer team came up a little bit short at the end, as Nick Robinson scored two first-half goals for Florida Tech and the Panthers tacked on two more in the second half for a 4-1 victory that eliminated the Moccasins from postseason contention.

“Hats off to Florida Tech,” said Moccasin coach Hugh Seyfarth. “Robin Chan did a great job getting them going after a rough start and made them a very difficult team to play against. Their results in the SSC show that and they deserved the win today.”

Thursday’s match wasn’t quite winner-take-all since the Panthers (7-6-2, 4-3-1) had already clinched a spot in the SSC Tournament when Lynn lost on Wednesday night; but for the Moccasins, it was close enough. The only way the Mocs could get into the postseason was with a win or a draw against the Panthers, and they got neither. Instead, Florida Tech clinched a first-round home game against an opponent to be determined and eliminated Florida Southern.

The Moccasins, who are 9-5-1 overall, finished 3-5 in the conference but lose the tie-breaker with Saint Leo, which is also 3-5, based on an earlier loss to the Lions. The result clinched the last spot in the SSC Tournament for the Lions, since they also win any tie-breakers over Eckerd and Lynn, who each have a game remaining.

The Moccasins threatened early with balls served into the box by David Fletcher, Ashley Holmes and Ricky Marton, and a corner kick by Zach Hofstetter, but none of them resulted in a shot. For their part, the Panthers seemed content to repel each attack by sending long balls back downfield, including a couple of strong clearances by goalkeeper Brentton Muhammad.

Florida Southern finally got the first shot for either team in the 20th minute when Hofstetter took a crack at the goal from the far left wing, but it was easily saved by Muhammad. From that point on, however, the game took a dramatic turn in favor of Florida Tech.

The Panthers followed the Moccasins with two shots in relatively quick succession, and in the 24th minute, their third shot found the mark. Robinson scored the goal on a leaping header at the back post, but it was Naru Wild-Putsorn who did most of the work. The junior midfielder was covered tightly in the right corner by J.D. Ruiz, but somehow worked around him to get the cross off and send it all the way across the field for Robinson.

Robinson struck again in the 38th minute, again benefitting from the quick feet of a teammate. The Moccasins had just seen the Panthers shoot wide on a corner kick when Florida Tech reserve midfielder Robert Russell stepped in to force a turnover on the ensuing goal kick. Getting the ball quickly to Robinson at the top of the box, the Mocs could only watch as his shot sailed toward the far right side of the goal.

“They punished us every time we made a mistake today,” said Seyfarth.

That gave Florida Tech a 2-0 advantage at halftime while outshooting the Moccasins 7-1. However, the Mocs had the better of it through the first 20 minutes of the second half, outshooting the Panthers 5-2 during that stretch. Givi Kokaia gave Florida Tech a scare in the 51st minute when he hit the crossbar with a shot off a corner kick, then gave Florida Southern a goal in the 65th minute while playing a man down.

The goal by Kokaia came after an unusual sequence that saw the Moccasins whistled for being offside, and the Panthers called for a foul when Muhammad handled a back-pass with his hands. Given the free kick at the top of the box, Kokaia blasted it into the net for his ninth goal of the season. That gave him a share of the team lead with Hofstetter.

The Mocs continued to get shots off in the latter stages of the game, and out-shot the Panthers 9-6 in the second half, but thoughts of a comeback ended when Nicolas Garcia scored in the 71st minute, and Peter Mindley scored in 85th.

With Florida Southern eliminated from the SSC Tournament, the loss likely ended the Mocs’ chance to receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament as well. They were ranked #6 in this week’s regional poll, and the top four teams are selected. With no games remaining on the schedule, the Moccasins have no way to improve their standing to jump over the two teams in front of them.

“Regardless of the outcome today, I’m very proud of this team,” said Seyfarth. “The turn-around from last season to this season is like night and day. We had a great experience this year with everything we’ve accomplished. I’d really like to thank our seniors, Johan Jonsson, Jared Bellingar and Givi Kokaia though. The leadership they showed this year was outstanding and they’ve helped lay the groundwork that we can build on for years to come.”