St. PETERSBURG, Fla. (September 10, 2021) – The Spring Hill College men's soccer team kept their early season hot streak alive with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Eckerd College Tritons on Friday night at Johnson Field.
The Tritons (0-3) took a quick 1-0 lead in the 3
rd minute of play when Ty Dolan found the top right corner of the goal with a lovely bender off his right foot from the top of the box after accepting an assist by Harry Laing and dancing around a defender from left-to-right.
Spring Hill kept its composure, nevertheless, and increased the offensive pressure on the other end throughout the 1
st half, but keeper Lynden Dawson of Eckerd made four saves before the intermission to keep the Badgers at bay.
The patience of the Badgers paid off in the 57
th minute when
Diogo Sousa found the bottom center of the net with an unassisted right-footed shot to knot the game at 1-1. Sousa scored after taking a corner kick from the right side and then alerting moving in toward goal to put himself into position for the scoring opportunity after he saw the Tritons' clearing attempt intercepted by the Badgers along the sideline.
Sousa struck again in the 73
rd minute with another score in the bottom center of the goal off his right foot, but this time
Luca Carrese assisted with an entry to set up the play.
After the match, SHC head coach
Chris Leonardi commented, "I thought they [Eckerd] scored a very good goal early and we just needed to keep working. I felt that we would create some chances, so patience was the key. Our fitness played a big part tonight and it's a credit to the guys who are putting in the work on and off the field."
SHC keeper
Alessandro Erdelyi (3-0) earned the win with one save versus just five shots and three corners by the Tritons.
Dawson (0-3) finished with 10 saves against 15 SHC shots and 10 corner kicks by SHC.
The Badgers (3-0) continue this two-game swing through the Sunshine State with a visit to Winter Park, Fla. on Sunday to take on the Rollins College Tars (1-0-1) in a non-conference match beginning at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern) in Barker Family Stadium at Cahall-Sandspur Field.
