CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Florida Southern men's soccer team (3-0-0, 0-0-0 SSC) defeated Delta State (1-2-1, 0-0-0 GSC) by a 3-0 margin on Friday afternoon (Sep. 4) at Delta Field. Florida Southern recorded 21 shots, including 12 on goal, while holding the Statesmen to eight shots in the shutout.
The Moccasins built a 2-0 first-half lead behind goals from
Ollie Stephens and
Hector Oliver, with Stephens opening the scoring in the tenth minute off a deflection in the box, and Oliver finishing a
Darcy Moffat assisted pass just six minutes later. Earlier, FSC created pressure with two corner kicks in the seventh minute before
Tim Baierlein put a shot wide in the two minutes later.
Ricardo Marques preserved the advantage with a save on Mills Sheridan, while Florida Southern kept generating looks through
Max Muth,
Luciano Schiaffini,
Pablo Overfeld and Stephens. The half grew more physical late, including fouls on both sides and a yellow card to Schiaffini, but the Mocs still carried the 2-0 lead into halftime.
The Mocs' defense stood strong, while Oliver scored in the 83rd minute off a penalty kick as Florida Southern added the only goal of the second half and moved in front 3-0. Earlier, the Moccasins created chances through Baierlein,
Joao Lopes and a corner in the first 15 minutes, then put together another attacking spell with shots from
Hale Ottman, Oliver, Moffat and Stephens between the 65th and 72nd minutes. DSU answered with pressure of its own, but Marques made three saves in the final 15 minutes minutes to help keep the shutout intact. Florida Southern continued forward after Oliver's goal with three shots in a 30-second span from
Santiago Luna and
Payton Rausch, and the match ended with the Mocs closing out a 3-0 win.
Oliver scored twice on three shots, putting each attempt on goal and finishing with four points. Stephens recorded the game-winning goal among three shots on frame, now giving him two goals on the season and has now scored in consecutive contests. Moffat added an assist and placed two of his three shots on goal. Marques made four saves over 90 minutes and recorded the shutout, his third already on the young season.
The offense would produce its most shots in a match since their 24 against Palm Beach Atlantic on October 5th, 2024 and the most shots on goal against a Division II opponent since October 27th, 2021 when they had 14 against Embry-Riddle.
Up next, Florida Southern travel south to Clinton to take on Mississippi Christian on Sunday (Sep. 6). Kickoff against the Choctaws is set for 12 PM ET at Robert P. Longabaugh Field.
