WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic men's soccer team hosted an in-form Embry-Riddle side tonight at the Rinker Athletic Campus. The Sailfish put in a stellar first 45 minutes to pull away and ended up with a 3-0 victory to move their season record to 4-2-2 overall and 3-1-1 in Sunshine State Conference play.

On a windy night in south Florida, the 'Fish were clearly the top side between the two conference foes, particularly in the opening half of play where PBA outshot the visitors 10-3. The Sailfish had chances earlier on as Luke Manley's full-field run from his rightback position saw him with a breakaway chance. The last Eagles defender did well to put him off as they tussled heading into the box as Manley's shot was at the Eagles keeper. Later, Tin Vastic was open for a header at the near post but the effort was high over the crossbar. The breakthrough came in the 27th minute as Livio von Holzen's corner was put away from a Manley header for his first goal of the season.

The second goal came just minutes later as an impressive Harry Gardner dribbling run resulted in him being fouled on the edge of the box. As a crowd of 'Fish stood around the freekick, it was Gardner who struck a right-footed shot into the left side of the net to double the lead and score his third goal of the year. The sides went into the half with the Sailfish in complete control, as goalie Omar Einarsson was forced into just one comfortable save.

With the two teams switching sides out of the half, the Sailfish had to attack into the strong breeze. The opening minutes were the best spell of the game for the Eagles but PBA hit them on a counter attack as Narcis Bou Dalmau played a ball behind the defensive line to Marian Rutkowski. The Sailfish forward was brought down by the last ERAU defender in the box to earn his side a penalty. Bou Dalmau stepped up to the spot in the 55th minute and scored his third goal of the season to give the PBA the 3-0 lead. 

Embry-Riddle pushed for a way back into the game but the strong Sailfish defense of Jake Strachan, Calum Ferguson, Jack Casey, and Manley made life difficult for the visitors. Einarsson made three second-half saves to earn the clean sheet as the Sailfish closed the game out comfortably.

The Sailfish continue to sit third in the SSC standings but made up ground on leading Lynn who was held to a draw by Barry tonight. PBA will look to pick up more points when they host Eckerd this Saturday at the RAC. The Tritons are 1-6-1 overall and 0-3 in league play.