LAKELAND, Fla. - Florida Southern College men's soccer team battled to a 1-1 draw against Saint Leo University in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.
The Moccasins (2-2-1, 0-0 SSC) and the Lions (0-3-2, 0-0 SSC) gave it all they had until the final buzzer, as both goals came early in the first half, tying the game.
FSC's goal came early at 19:35 when junior defender
Mathias Kjolner hit a cross inside the box that was deflected by a Saint Leo defender. The ball bounced off the defender and fell to the feet of junior midfielder
Felix Tonne, who shot from inside the box into the far left corner past the Lions keeper, who tried to reach to block the shot.
With pressure on Saint Leo, they quickly turned up their momentum, and at 24:22, scored the equalizer to make it 1-1, where the score would stay until the end of regulation.
The second half belonged to the Mocs, as they outshot the Lions 10-to-3, trying to come away with the victory. The first shot of the half came from senior forward
Kyle Carr at 51:19, and he opened up the shooting for FSC. Immediately following Carr, both freshman defender
Pablo Overfeld and freshman midfielder
Matthew Male had shots both just missing wide.
The Mocs defense kept the Lion's offense out of range as FSC had four shots in a minute and a half frame coming from junior forward
Sander Trevor, Male, junior defender
Kristoffer Risnes, and junior midfielder
Luca Bernoth, whose shot went right into Saint Leo's keeper.
With time dwindling down, freshman forward
Joe Maxwell entered the game and made his presence known with back-to-back shots on goal with two incredible saves by the Lions goalie. At 88:15, the final attempt to take the lead came from Tonne, who looked to end the game how he started it, but the Saint Leo keeper finished the game with his final save to close out the non-conference match 1-1.
In goal, sophomore
Lasse Dettmer had four saves on the night, alongside the Lions keeper who had four saves as well. Tonne led FSC with two shots, both on goal, followed by Maxwell with two shots on goal; Bernoth also had a shot on goal, and
Victor Beker had three shots, along with Male with two; and Risnes, Overfeld, Carr, and Trevor with one apiece.
FSC will have a rematch in Sunshine State Conference action against the Lions at Saint Leo on Oct. 4. The Mocs continue play on their home field with the conference opener next Wednesday, Sept. 20 when they take on Eckerd College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
