Eastern Florida Mens Soccer Ranked Nationally
By Space Coast Daily // September 19, 2013
Titans win home debut in big way
BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA, FLORIDA – Eastern Florida State College men’s soccer is currently ranked 12th nationally by the NJCAA and 13th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
After a big 3-0 win last weekend over Broward College, the Titans take a weekend trip to Georgia where they will play Georgia Perimeter on Saturday and Andrews College on Sunday.
Last Saturday vs. Broward, Eastern Florida played with purpose, enthusiasm and energy winning their home debut on Saturday night, blanking Broward College on the Melbourne Campus.
Playing before a large, supportive crowd nationally ranked Eastern Florida got goals from Ivan Magalhaes and Arturo Roosen, both off corner kicks, for a 2-0 lead halftime lead.
Jordan Muir added a second-half goal for the final margin raising Eastern Florida’s record to 4-1. More importantly the victory gave Eastern Florida a leg up in its three-game Florida College System Activities Association/NJCAA Region 8 series with Broward which determines who progresses to the postseason. Broward fell to 2-1-1. The teams meet again at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 in Fort Lauderdale. Eastern Florida fired off 27 shots, 13 on goal, to only one on goal for Broward.
“Our finishes were a little wayward but we dominated every aspect of the game,” said Eastern Florida head coach Oliver Twelvetrees.
“We dominated their forwards. We controlled possession. We created a lot of chances.”I was very pleased with the performance. The boys rose to the occasion. They knew it was a big game. They showed up just like the big crowd did.”
Eastern Florida’s fitness showed as the game wore on. It was amplified after a Broward player was ejected on a red card with 38 minutes and 27 seconds remaining to be played following a rough foul on Eastern Florida’s James Togbah. Magalhaes spoke to the fitness.
“We’ve been training a lot, we had more stamina,” he said. “We practice hard and we now are in shape. Thanks to coach and all my teammates we could hold the defense.”
As for his goal: “I won’t say that it was lucky because I always pay attention and I tried to follow the ball . . . and I could score.”
The Titans next home match is 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 against Darton College. Admission is free. Eastern Florida upset then No. 2-nationally ranked Darton 4-3 on Sept. 6 in Albany, GA.