Saint Leo Comes Back Twice, Then Holds on for 3-2 Win Over Florida Southern

LAKELAND â€" Saint Leo came into Wednesday night’s game at Barnett Field as the highest scoring team in the Sunshine State Conference while still allowing the fewest number of goals. Florida Southern found a way to penetrate that defense, but the Lions’ offense also found ways to score, as #21 Saint Leo held on for a 3-2 win over the Moccasins.

Not only was Saint Leo leading the SSC in scoring, the Lions were also the second highest scoring team in the country, averaging 3.4 goals per game. The Moccasins were 12th in scoring, but were facing a team that had surrendered only four goals in its first seven games, an average of 7.1 shots, and a total of 13 shots on goal. By the end of the night the Mocs had taken 12 shots, nine on goal, and found their mark on two of them. It took a couple of spectacular 2nd-half saves by goalkeeper Jake Hirst to prevent two more goals before the Lions had to protect their one-goal lead playing a man down for the final 19 minutes.

Florida Southern (5-2-1, 1-2) got on the scoreboard first at the 21:00 minute mark when Zach Hofstetter poked in a loose ball that bounced away from Hirst after an initial shot by Brad Hunt. Hofstetter’s fourth goal of the year extended his streak of consecutive games with a point to nine games. The redshirt junior later assisted the Mocs’ second goal early in the second half with a long free kick that was headed home by Ricky Marton, the first for the freshman defender from Illinois.

In between those two goals, Saint Leo (6-2, 1-2) scored one of its own, with Viktor Wikner taking the shot from 20 yards. That goal, though unassisted, was created by a corner kick by Odyss Economides. The corner resulted in a header by Ruud Van Der Sar that hit the crossbar, and when the Mocs weren’t able to effectively clear the ball, Wikner stepped in and hit the shot into the far right side of the net, sending the game to halftime tied at one.

Marton’s goal in the 51st minute gave the Mocs a 2-1 lead, but the Lions answered with goals in the 57th and 59th. Jonathan Glenn netted the first one after taking a short pass from Edgar Herrera, and looping a shot from the top of the box into the upper right corner of the goal. Bruce Cutler got the next one with a blast from 25 yards, again after the Moccasins were unable to clear the ball on a Saint Leo attack.

“I thought we got off to a positive start and were able to get that first goal, but I am not at all happy that we lost two different leads,” said Moccasin coach Hugh Seyfarth. “We just completely broke down and gave away three goals tonight. As technically sound as we played at Rollins on Saturday, we were that poor against Saint Leo.”

Glenn received a yellow card for his celebration after the game-tying goal and it proved costly for the Lions later in the night. With Saint Leo still leading 3-2, Glenn was booked again in the 71st minute for knocking the ball away on a Florida Southern free kick, forcing his team to play short-handed for the final 19 minutes.

The Lions managed to hold their own, though not without some tense moments, that included another free kick by Hofstetter after another caution against the Lions in the 88th minute. This time, Van Der Sar headed it out of danger before the Mocs could play it inside the box and Saint Leo spent the rest of the match trying to keep possession and run out the clock.

“You absolutely cannot turn the ball over in the SSC like we did tonight,” said Seyfarth. “We saw what happens when you do that, and there are too many good teams in this conference to expect to win if you keep giving the ball away.”

Florida Southern played most of the game without starting defender J.D. Ruiz, and center back Ashley Holmes left the game early in the second half as well, but after Saint Leo had taken a 3-2 lead, the Mocs allowed just one shot in the last 30 minutes.

Twice during that same span the Mocs were denied by Hirst, who made a pair of diving saves to rob Givi Kokaia of two possible goals. The first came in the 65th minute, with the second one coming in the 68th. Those were two of the seven saves Hirst had in the game after he’d had to make only nine in his first six starts. Overall, Florida Southern had 12 shots on the night, while Saint Leo had 17, though several of the Lions’ came from outside the box and only one was on frame in the first half.

Florida Southern will step out of conference play for its next game against Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.