Box Score
MELBOURNE â€" The outcome of Wednesday night’s non-conference match between Florida Southern and Florida Tech was ultimately decided by the Panther defense, on both ends of the field as it turned out. Not only did the Panthers allow only four shots in the match, the only goal scored by either team came courtesy of two defenders who combined to give Florida Tech the 1-0 win.
The first half was nearly a complete defensive stalemate, broken up only by a 32nd-minute goal by Florida Tech (3-3-1). Even that came from a pair of Panther defenders who had yet to put their names in the points column prior to Wednesday. Serving it from the sideline, left back Nicolas Dreyer sent the ball into the box where right back John Bocinsky connected on a header that grazed the bottom of the cross bar before landing in the net.
It marked the third straight meeting between the two teams that ended with a 1-0 score, with the Panthers winning two of them.
That shot was one of only three taken by Florida Tech in the first half, and Florida Southern (2-4) had an equal number. Beside Bocinsky’s header, none of the other shots were even close to connecting, and none of the three total first-half corner kicks were especially threatening either.
Two of Florida Southern’s three first-half shots, by Corey Mills (Wellington, New Zealand) and Luke Jenner (Preston, England) were from outside the box, and one by Jonathan Radvogin (Vasteras, Sweden) was blocked before it ever had a chance to force Florida Tech goalkeeper Mitch Thorn into action. All three of them came in the first 20 minutes.
Any other first-half chances by Florida Tech were thwarted by the Moccasin back line, in particular center backs Petter Allansson (Savedalen, Sweden) and James Gibson (Cape Coral, Fla.). Twice the Panthers tried to push the ball down the middle where either Adin Kavara or Mantas Mazeikis were able to run onto it for a drive to goal; and twice a promising opportunity was broken up Allansson or Gibson. Another tense moment came when Jack Willison’s long throw into the box bounced around and off the heads of players from both teams before finally being cleared without a shot.
In the second half, Florida Tech out-shot Florida Southern 9-1, but only two of those were on-target and saved by Moccasin goalkeeper Cole Clingerman (Auburndale, Fla.). Two early shots were blocked outside of the box and Allansson stopped another well-played ball by Jeremy Tilley.
The Mocs also side-stepped disaster in the 60th minute after turning the ball over in their attacking third, only to see Joe Barber send his shot wide right. Later, it was Tilley who gave the Panthers another chance to score in the 78th minute, but this time Dreyer sent a curving shot from the left wing over the bar.
The Moccasins’ two best second-half scoring chances both came from Radvogin in the 70th and 82nd minutes. On the first one, Radvogin won the ball back in the right corner after it was initially knocked away, and sent a menacing cross toward the far post for Carlos Rodriguez (Tampa, Fla.), who was momentarily open. However, Bocinsky swept in to head it out of danger. Radvogin later got a shot off in the 82nd minute that was saved by Thorn, but it was the last taken by Florida Southern in the match.
That was the only save Thorn needed to make in order to post his third shutout of the season. Clingerman made two saves for Florida Southern, one of them at close range on a shot by Carlos Brito in the final minute.
Florida Southern will play its first Sunshine State Conference match of the season on Saturday night when it hosts Barry University at 7:30 p.m.
