WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic men's soccer team defeated Florida Southern College 3-0 tonight in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament. As the three seed in the conference, the No. 7 ranked Sailfish were able to host a 5-5-5 Florida Southern team that was the six seed in the tournament. The victory lifts the 'Fish to a 13-2-2 record and they now carry a six-game winning streak.
PBA had a 9-0 home mark headed into tonight's game against a Florida Southern team who held them to a 1-1 draw in Lakeland earlier this season. With the season on the line for Florida Southern and PBA looking to defend its SSC postseason title, the first 25 minutes of the match turned into a battle for possession in the midfield with both teams feeling each other out. The Sailfish controlled 66 percent of the possession in the first half, but the first quality chance came in the 28th minute when
Claudio Rivadeneira was denied from the top of the box by a kick save from Moccasin keeper Phillip Faderl. With all the possession in the first half, the Sailfish did muster up eight shots to Florida Southern's three.
The Sailfish backline looked in control of the game throughout the first 45 minutes. Defender
Thomas Spear made two big sliding blocks on shots to keep goalie
Patrick Nettekoven clean. In the 55th minute, it was the defender Spear who came forward and was able to redirect a
Nicolas Le Metayer freekick past Faderl and give the Sailfish a 1-0 lead. From that point on PBA was able to keep control of the game allowing Nettekoven to earn his third clean sheet of the season.
The Sailfish outshot the Mocs 19-10 overall and 12-1 on target in the contest. Florida Southern was kept alive by Faderl who made nine saves on the night, many of the spectacular variety. With the Moccasins not able to sit back and defend while chasing a goal, it was
Cadu Cusatis who buried a cutback cross from
Harun Velic in the 82nd minute. Two minutes later it was Cusatis again who collected a pass from
Marc Hebbeker near the penalty spot and beat Faderl to put the game away. After having his goal streak broken at eight straight games last time out against Barry, Cusatis is now tied for the lead in goals scored in the conference with twelve.
The Sailfish controlled 60 percent of the possession in the match, and the 3-0 victory moves the 'Fish onto the second round of the SSC Tournament. Up next, PBA will travel to Melbourne to face Florida Tech for the second time. The Sailfish played a closely fought match against the Panthers on Oct. 30 before pulling away for two late goals and head home with a 2-0 victory. The winner of the PBA and Florida Tech semifinal will face the winner of Lynn and Nova Southeastern on Nov. 17.
