MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men's Soccer) - Facing poor conditions and an early deficit, No. 24 Florida Tech (1-0) responded with three unanswered tallies in the second half and defeated Francis Marion (1-1) by a score of 4-2 in the Panthers' season opener Saturday night at Rick Stottler Field.
Per Henrik Nag and
Brandon Smalley each recorded a goal and an assist in the victory, while
Evan Enders and
Hugo Lopez netted one goal, apiece. The Panthers dominated FMU in both shots (16-4) and corner kicks (17-4). It was very chippy between the teams as well, with 10 yellow cards being handed out during the contest.
The Patriots got on the board quickly as Levin Sandmann slipped a knuckle ball through the legs of Chris Page just 45 seconds into the match. Enders knocked a shot into the bottom right corner, off a feed from Nag, to tie the game at 1-1 at the 16:53 mark in the first half. Colin McPartlin pushed FMU ahead, 2-1, on his header off a Sandmann corner.
Lopez tied up the contest at the 57:52 mark of the second half off a nice pass from Smalley. Nag drew a foul in the box in the 79th minute to earn the penalty kick. The Stavanger, Norway product made the most of the opportunity and fired in the eventual game-winner to put FIT ahead 3-2. Late in the game, Smalley broke through the FMU defense and put one past Washington Bgoni to give the Panthers the 4-2 lead.
"We were very pleased with tonight's performance," said head coach
Robin Chan. "Francis Marion is a tough team to play and will win many games this year. We showed strong character and spirit, which allowed us to answer a lot of questions about ourselves. Now our focus is shifted towards Monday's game and we we need to recover and get prepared."
Florida Tech returns to the pitch on Monday, Sept. 4, as they take on Gulf South Conference foe Shorter at 1 p.m. ET at Rick Stottler Field. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com/live.
