Tech Falls Short in 3-2 Double Overtime Thriller

admin September 16, 2007

MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Soccer) – Florida Tech’s men’s soccer team came out on the short end of the stick
in a Sunshine State Conference battle Sunday afternoon as the University of Tampa knocked in the game-winning goal in the 113^th minute to
capture the 3-2 win. “This was a tough loss for the guys to take,” said head coach Robin Chan. “This was an energy-draining game and it’s cruel to lose like
that, but there’s no time to dwell; we’ve got to work harder and prepare for Lynn now.” With the loss, the Panthers slip to 1-5-1 on the season,
while the Spartans improve their record to 5-1-0. Florida Tech dug a hole for itself early, giving up two Tampa goals in the first 12 and a half
minutes of the contest. On the second, Panther goalkeeper Cory Collins came out and made a
nice save on the first attempt, but Spartan Clevon George was there to put the rebound in the net. With less than 12 minutes to go in the half,
Collins came up to the top of the box to challenge a Tampa striker and made a diving slide to halt a potential third goal for the Spartans. At 40:40 Tech
came alive when freshman Tyson
Eyo sent a corner kick into traffic and, thankfully for the Panther faithful, junior Ryan Hagerty was there to take
the shot and slip it past Tampa keeper Kevin St. John. Down a goal heading into the second stanza, Florida Tech took over the offensive control and
kept the ball in Tampa’s half of the field for a good portion of the half. The Panthers had several chances mid-way through the period, including in the
68^th minute when freshman Dean Faithful had a beautiful
header off an Eyo corner kick, but a foul in the box negated what looked like Tech’s second goal. That goal would come in the 72^nd minute
when sophomore Nicolas Garcia found himself
in a one-v-one situation with the goalkeeper. Not slowing down at all, Garcia drilled a shot just past St. John’s reach to the left corner of the net to
tie things up. Neither team could manage to capitalize on another attack, sending the match into overtime. Not much materialized in the first OT,
but the Panthers had two good chances early on the second extra period. However, it was the Spartans that came out on top as George notched his second goal
of the afternoon at 113:10, catching Collins and the Tech defense on their heals at the right moment to seal the road win for Tampa. “To the guys’
credit, they fought hard and played their way back in the game, but we can’t continue to make it that difficult for ourselves,” Chan commented. “Once you
get into OT, you can’t make mistakes and you have to capitalize on your chances, and we didn’t do that. But, like I said, now we refocus and get ready for
the number one team in the country when we go to Lynn.”