MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men's Soccer) - The Florida Tech (11-4-1, 6-3 SSC) offense was stifled in its Sunshine State Conference quarterfinal matchup with Eckerd (8-5-3, 3-4-2 SSC) on Tuesday, as the No. 6 seed Tritons were able to build a three goal advantage in the second half and hold on to defeat the No. 3 seed Panthers 3-1 at Rick Stottler Field.
Both teams had their opportunities early in the contest but neither was able to establish much of an attack over the initial 45 minutes of action, combining for just two shots on goal in the first half.
Matheus Assumpcao converted the Tritons' only chance on net in the first frame, scoring off a low cross by Juan David Tejada in the 31st minute to hand his team a 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.
Florida Tech and Eckerd were even in shots 5-5 over the first 45 minutes with the Panthers attempting more corner kicks in the first half 3-2.
It looked as though FIT would tie it up in the 58th minute on an
Adin Kavara free kick as his attempt beat EC goalkeeper, Alex Gott, but rang off the top corner post and soared out of bounds.
Moritz Hannemann extended the Tritons' lead to two goals when he collected a rebound and fired it past
Christian Moerch in the 64th minute. The margin then increased to three in the 67th as Tejada beat his defender on the wing and blasted a shot to the top corner.
Kavara ended the Panthers' draught with 10 minutes left on the clock when his penalty kick snuck by Gott, who originally made the save, and rolled into the bottom corner to cut the deficit to two goals.
With hopes of producing a quick run, the Panthers continued to attack the EC goal. However, they were continually turned away by Gott and the Triton until the final seconds ticked off the clock and Florida Tech's SSC title hopes came to a devastating end.
FIT outshot the Tritons 16-13 in the contest, yet EC held an 8-5 edge in shots on goal. Moerch made five saves in the loss. His counterpart, Gott, finished with four saves as his team advanced to the SSC Semifinals where they will face No. 2 seed Lynn on Friday.
The Panthers will now set their sights on next Monday's NCAA Division II Selection Show and hope that their season continues with a NCAA Tournament berth.
