FORT MYERS, Fla. – An unlucky bounce went the wrong way for Florida Gulf Coast men's soccer, which fell 2-1 to North Florida on Saturday night at Pickering Field.
As the clock ticked to the 85th minute, Mark Romano launched a shot from well beyond the box. The chance ricocheted up off an FGCU defender, getting past the Eagles' keeper to put the Ospreys up 2-1. The late tally was reminiscent of last year's meeting between FGCU and UNF in Fort Myers, when the Eagles scored in the 88th minute to win.
The Eagles (2-4-0, 0-2-0) had a final chance to equalize with 60 seconds to play, but FGCU's shot sailed just high of the crossbar, and UNF (4-2-1, 2-0-0) held on to secure the victory.
Earlier in the contest, the two sides only got through 5:01 of play before the game entered a lightning delay that lasted 41 minutes.
The Eagles got on the board first following a brilliant sequence of passing in the 16th minute.
Brooks Beeman played it behind his back up the sideline to Rico Felix. Felix found
Flavio D'Angelo, who delivered an excellent cross to
Aron Martinez. Martinez promptly buried the ball in the back of the net to give FGCU a 1-0 lead.
North Florida answered in the 30th minute on a solo effort from Kaiss Mansouri, who dribbled around several defenders and found the top right corner of the net from the top of the box.
The physical contest saw four yellow cards issued, two to each side, and 25 combined fouls. The Eagles outshot UNF 12-11, but the sides were even on shots on goal, 6-6, and the Ospreys held a 6-2 advantage on corner kicks.
Next, FGCU returns to the road for a three game stretch, beginning at Houston Christian at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
For more information on FGCU men's soccer, follow @FGCU_MSoccer on
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