SAINT LEO, Fla. – In what was supposed a proper farewell to the Lions’ seven graduating players, the Saint Leo men’s soccer team (9-5-0, 3-5-0 SSC) dropped a critical Sunshine State Conference match to the Barry University Buccaneers (8-2-3, 4-1-1 SSC), Saturday night from University Field.
The Lions, who honored seven graduating players prior to the match, saw seven shots-on-goal go for not as the Lions were shutout for just the second time in 2010. Edgar Herrera registered three of those shots, while senior forward Jonathan Glenn also posted a pair of shots.
Herrera had Barry ‘keeper Johnny Rodrigues in his sites for much of the first half. Unfortunately for Lions’ fans, Rodrigues was up to the challenge as he stopped the Saint Leo forward from point-blank in the early moments. Herrera kept the pressure on, but a shot off the post saw the Green & Gold’s best scoring opportunity just miss right of the net . In total, the Barry goalie collected four saves on six total shots in the first half.
Lions’ ‘keeper Jake Hirst was just as impressive during the opening 45 minutes, making three saves to keep the Buccaneers off the board.
Out of the halftime break, Barry immediately capitalized on missed Lions’ opportunities and soon saw themselves in the lead. Sascha Koetting collected his eighth goal of the year when he scored on a pass from Mark Anderson 33 seconds into the second half.
Glenn, Herrera, and the rest of the Lions’ bunch continued to try and counter with a pressing offensive mentality. Still, Saint Leo could not penetrate the Bucs’ goal. The Lions best chance at scoring came off the foot of Glenn when he was stopped near the right edge of the area midway through the half.
With Rodrigues holding the Lions’ offense at bay, Barry used a late goal by Joong Kim in the 89th-minute to seal the game. The score remained the same over the final few moments as Barry claimed the three points.
In turn, Hirst took the loss for the Lions as he dropped to 8-5-0 on the campaign.
On the night, Barry outshot the Lions, 17-11. The two teams also combined for 18 fouls and three yellow cards
The loss damages the Lions Sunshine State Conference Tournament hopes and despite no longer being able to control its own destiny, all is not lost. Saint Leo currently sits in a tie for fourth-place with nine points along Nova Southeastern and Florida Southern. The Lions have the tiebreaker advantage over the Moccasins, but would lose out in a tiebreaker with Nova Southeastern. Each has one SSC game left. Another wild card is Lynn University, as they sit with six points, and two conference games remaining.
Saint Leo will return to the pitch to wrap-up the regular season with a regional contest against Palm Beach Atlantic on Thursday, October 28. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m.
