LAKELAND, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic men's soccer team dropped a nail biter to #9 Florida Southern 3-2 on Saturday. The Sailfish scored once in each half, while Fla. Southern scored all three of its goals after halftime. The Sailfish finished with nine shots and two shots on goal, while Fla. Southern had 16 shots and six on frame.
The Sailfish struck first in the 17th minute, when
Kobi Thomas scored off an assist from
Livio von Holzen to move the visitors ahead 1-0. Earlier,
Ole Lichter took the Sailfish's first shot in the fifth minute, and the side continued to generate looks after the goal with attempts by Lichter and Thomas before Fla. Southern's mid-half push.
Flavio Giannini made a big save on Joao Lopes' shot at 33:09, while the 'Fish kept the 1-0 score intact. The closing stretch turned physical, with the Sailfish whistled for multiple fouls and shown yellow cards to the team,
Dominic Breidenbach and
Yassir Smlali, but Thomas added another attempt in the 36th minute and the 'Fish reached halftime ahead 1-0.
The Sailfish led in the second half before Fla. Southern scored twice late and handed the 'Fish a 3-2 final. Earlier, the Sailfish faced sustained pressure from 47:05 to 53:02, with Fla. Southern recording three shots and three corner kicks before Joao Lopes tied the match at 53:38, and
Titus Beuckman was shown a red card 14 seconds later.Â
The 'Fish still created an answer, with
Fabio Reck shooting wide in the 60th minute, a corner kick at 60:53 and Thomas scoring at 63:26 to put the Sailfish ahead 2-1.
Ugo Drieu and
Fritz Burger each missed high after that, but Fla. Southern equalized on Tim Baierlein's goal at 76:31 and went ahead on Darcy Moffat's goal at 83:36, while
Omar Einarsson made a late save in the 86th minute with the score at 3-2.
The Sailfish return to next Saturday when they head to Melbourne to take on Florida Tech.Â
