Defense Dominates, Hat Trick for Hofstetter in 4-0 Win at Saint Leo

SAINT LEO â€" Florida Southern and Saint Leo came into Wednesday night’s game as the two highest scoring teams in the Sunshine State Conference, so a scoreless first half may have been a bit surprising. The second half went a little more according to script, but the Moccasins’ defense made it a one-sided show. Sparked by Luke Jenner’s play on both sides of the field, and three goals by Zach Hofstetter, Florida Southern rolled to a 4-0 win over Saint Leo.

“What you saw tonight was an outstanding team effort,” said Moccasin coach Hugh Seyfarth. “We told them before the game that we control our own fate, and how we choose to react to the situation is completely up to us. Tonight, our actions spoke volumes.”

Defense dominated the first half, as Saint Leo had only five shots and Florida Southern (5-6-1, 2-4) had just one. The first two shots by Saint Leo were on target but saved by Andres Guzman and a header by Joel Purkiss in the 22nd minute went just over the bar. Guzman made another save on an open header by Edgar Herrera in the 24th minute, but after that, the Lions had only one long-range shot the remainder of the half.

The Lions (7-4, 2-3) did have one other scoring chance prevented by Moccasin defender J.D. Ruiz in the 31st minute. With Saint Leo pressing forward on a counter-attack, midfielder Andro Hrkac sent a long cross-field pass toward the left corner for Michael Panter. Panter then tried to hit Konstantin Pyankov with a cross back to the far post, but Ruiz came in from behind, stepped in front of the play, and sent the ball over the end line. The Lions ended up with three straight corner kicks in the exchange, but none of them resulted in shots.

The lone Moccasin shot in the first half came from Hofstetter, who benefitted from an intercepted pass by David Fletcher in the Lions’ back third. Fletcher quickly pushed the ball forward, but Hofstetter’s shot curled over the crossbar by inches.

“Both teams had some chances in the first half, but I thought we did a good job of possessing the ball, especially with Luke and Mitchell Francois.”

In the second half, the Moccasins struck quickly, and it was Jenner who put them on the board in the 51st minute. Taking a short pass across the middle from Gustaf Ytterbom, the sophomore midfielder fired a shot from the top of the box that found the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

With the score still 1-0, the Lions posed a serious threat in the 61st minute, but Logan Albritton stripped Jesper Otterstedt of the ball inside the box, and Fletcher stopped a shot by Eishun Yoshida on the ensuing corner kick. Saint Leo’s best opportunities after that came when Michael Panther pulled a free kick just wide of the goal in the 79th minute, and Purkiss hit the post in the 84th.

By that point, Hofstetter had already scored his first goal to put the Moccasins up 2-0. It came in the 71st minute when Ruiz gave him the chance by sending the ball into the attacking third, where Hofstetter hit a shot from the left side of the box for his team-leading 13th goal.

Hofstetter completed his second hat trick of the season with goals in the 84th and 85th minutes. The first one came on a counter-attack down the right side, with Ytterbom picking up his second assist of the night. After receiving the ball while streaking into the penalty box, Hofstetter stepped around goalkeeper McKenzey Scott to slip a shot inside the near post for a 3-0 Florida Southern lead. He scored again just 38 seconds later by following up his own blocked shot for the final goal of the night.

It was Hofstetter’s second career hat trick, and his fifth multi-goal game of the season.

“In the second half, we were consistently winning first and second balls, and the defense was outstanding. That helped us get the game-winner from Luke, and then Zach gave us the insurance.”

Florida Southern’s second shutout of the season came behind a back line of Ruiz, Albritton, Ryan Arndt and Ricky Marton. They surrendered 14 shots overall, but only four on goal. They helped Guzman earn his first career shutout with four saves. It was the Mocs' first shutout of the Lions since 1988.

The Moccasins go out of conference for their next game on Saturday night when they travel to Clearwater to take on Clearwater Christian at 6:30 p.m.