ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The No. 13 ranked Palm Beach Atlantic men's soccer team looked sharp, showing no signs of a long layoff as they cruised to a lopsided 4-1 season-opening win against Flagler tonight. 

After not competing since 2019, the Sailfish were forced to wait a little longer as the game was delayed over an hour due to inclement weather. When the contest began, the 'Fish created the first chances of the game early on when the new PBA attack of Fred Ferreira found Nemanja Zivanovic behind the Saints defense but he dragged the shot wide of the right post in the fifth minute. Ten minutes later, the Sailfish had the second chance when Micahel Pahr got on the end of a PBA corner but his header was off target. 

In the 16th minute, PBA broke through with their defensive pressure as midfielder Andres Flores put the Saints goalkeeper under pressure forcing an errant outlet pass that Frederico Serra picked up on the edge of the box. Serra's right-footed strike was perfectly placed as it flew into the top corner and put PBA ahead. After controlling the bulk of the possession, the Sailfish struck for a second time when Quenzi Huerman played a pinpoint diagonal ball to winger Fred Ferreira who dribbled inside the last defender and found the bottom left corner.

PBA controlled the first 45 minutes, outshooting the Saints 7-3 in the first half but new Sailfish goalkeeper Albert Escuin came up big twice as he made a one-on-one save in the 28th minute and saved a Flagler penalty in the 33rd minute. 

The Sailfish broke through for the third time, four minutes into the second half as Ferreira's work rate was rewarded as he chased down a hopeful through ball and took advantage of a Flagler defender losing his footing. Once he collected the ball he was able to keep his composure and find the back of the net for the second time tonight.  The Saints found the back of the net in the 72nd minute off a corner to make it 3-1 but PBA answered with a goal off a corner of their own when Oliver Posarelli scored five minutes later. 

The Sailfish showed off their depth as 13 players saw the field off the bench in the 4-1 victory. PBA outshot the Saints 14-9 overall and 6-4 in shots on target in a game where they controlled the pace from start to finish.

The 'Fish jump right back into action as they host Mississippi College for their home opener on Saturday. Mississippi College fell in its season opener against Nova Southeastern 1-0.