Florida Tech Men’s Soccer Outplayed But Get Tough Road Win At Florida Southern
By Daniel Supraner, Athletic Communications Director // October 17, 2016
Panthers move into sole possession of third place
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech men’s soccer (7-2-1, 5-2 SSC) picked up a quality result over Florida Southern (5-4-1, 2-3-1 SSC) on the road Saturday night in Lakeland, Florida, winning 1-0 thanks to an own goal scored by the Moccasins in the second half of the Sunshine State Conference bout.
With the victory, the Panthers move into sole possession of third place in the SSC standings. Ahead of the Crimson & Gray in the league are Palm Beach Atlantic and Lynn, the only two teams to hand FIT a loss this season.
Despite the result of the contest, this was a game controlled throughout by the Moccasins. FSC outshot the Panthers by a 19-6 margin, including 8-1 after 45 minutes of action. However, freshman goalkeeper Christian Moerch was up to the task, making two first half saves, and six for the game, to keep FSC off the board.
The scoreless draw remained until a Mocs’ defender, in an effort to clear the ball from his own zone, headed in a Brandon Smalley free kick to hand FIT a 1-0 advantage in the 71st minute.
From there the Panther defense stiffened, limiting their opponent to just five shots the remainder of the game. The only Mocs’ attempt to threaten FIT over the final 29 minutes was gobbled-up by Moerch in the 80th minute to preserve the shutout.
Moerch improved to 5-2-1 while picking up his third clean sheet of the year. His counterpart, Cole Clingerman, finished with four saves and saw his overall record dip to 5-4-1.
The schedule continues for Florida Tech as it travels to St. Petersburg, Florida for a non-conference duel with Eckerd College on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. ET.
The Panthers knocked off the then-undefeated Tritons by a score of 3-2 on Sept. 17 in Melbourne. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com.
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