ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida Southern (5-1-0, 1-0-0 SSC) defeated Eckerd (1-5-0, 0-2-0 SSC) by just a 1-0 margin on Wednesday night (Sep. 16) at Johnson Field. The Mocs held the Tritons to one shot on goal and finished with a 12-6 advantage in total shots.
The Moccasins' clearest stretch came midway through the first half, when
Darcy Moffat,
Payton Rausch and
Luciano Schiaffini took shots between 21:33 and 29:06 before a corner at 31:32, with Rausch's effort saved by Trent Murphy as the match remained 0-0. Midway through the opening period, a long throw in from Moffat found
Luciano Schiaffini's feet, but his quick poke was just wide left on the best scoring chance thus far.
Earlier,
Pablo Overfeld had the first FSC attempt in the seventh minute, and the Tritons' only early shot from Tatum Fain went wide. After the Tritons added an off-target look from Monty Clark, FSC pushed again late as
Tim Baierlein forced another Murphy save, one of his four on the night, followed by a corner and a
Hector Oliver shot over the top. The Mocs finished the half with six shots and two corners while holding the Tritons to two shots and no corners, and neither side scored before halftime.
Florida Southern broke the scoreless match in the 52nd minute, when Baierlein scored after another long throw in by Moffat was headed backwards by a Triton, where Baierlein was witing at the right place and time to poke home the eventual game-winner. For the junior, it is now his fourth goal of the season, matching the most on the team alongside Oliver.
Baierlein also had a shot hit the top woodwork at 50:06 and added another attempt at 59:54 as the Moccasins kept pressure on after the restart. As the half became more physical,
Ricardo Marques protected the lead with a save on Gavin Spuler's shot in the 69th minute before FSC answered with a corner kick of their own.
Joao Lopes put two shots on frame in the final 15 minutes, both saved by Trent Murphy, and the Mocs finished the night with the 1-0 scoreline intact.
Baierlein scored the game-winning, unassisted first goal and led Florida Southern with four shots, putting two on frame. Marques played all 90 minutes in goal, made one save on the only Tritons shot on target, and recorded a his fourth clean sheet of the still young season. Lopes also added two shots, both on goal.
Trent Murphy played all 90 minutes in goal and finished with four saves. Sebastian Schmalbach led the Tritons with two shots. Gavin Spuler put his lone attempt on goal.
The result was the first time since 2019 in which the Mocs took down Eckerd in St. Petersburg. Additionally, it was the first time FSC earned all three points with the win in their SSC opener since 2018, defeating #15 Lynn, 2-1.
Up next, Florida Southern hosts Lynn on this upcoming Saturday (Sep. 19). Kickoff is set for 7 PM at Berend Field.
