University of North Florida
UC Irvine
Ospreys fall to UC-Irvine in season opener
8/31/2008 12:58:19 AM | Men's Soccer
UNF plays Seattle at 2:30 p.m. on Monday
IRVINE, Calif. – The University of North Florida men's soccer team watched a scoreless tie disappear a little more than five minutes into the second half of its season opener on Saturday night at the UC-Irvine College Classic as UC-Irvine's Matt Murphy netted the game-winning goal to give the Anteaters a 1-0 win.
“I thought we played very, very well,” UNF head coach Ray Bunch said. “What is the greatest compliment to our team is how the other coaches raved about the improvement they could see in our team since we came out to play over here three years ago.”
UNF (0-1-1) took 10 shots in the match, but managed just two on goal. Sophomore Akil DeFreitas played the full 90 minutes and took both shots on goal for the Ospreys. UC-Irvine (1-0-0) took 15 shots with nine on goal.
Anchored by junior captain Matthew Hollyoak, the UNF defense blanked UC-Irvine in the first half, allowing only seven shots. However, in the 50th minute, Murphy took a pass from the middle of the box, nine yards from the net, off the foot of Irving Garcia and put it past UNF senior keeper Tony Restino from the left side.
“I must give credit where credit is due,” Bunch said. “It was a very nice goal. I thought it was a game that whoever scored first would win, and they scored first.”
In his first contest as an Osprey, Restino, a senior transfer from Webber International, saw all 90 minutes in net and made eight saves. Fellow seniors Cord McCoy and Akil Burgen also played the entirety of the match, taking one shot each, while sophomore Adam O'Neill added a shot in 90 minutes of action.
“Our fitness was great, but we lacked the sharpness that comes with playing games,” Bunch said. “Tropical storm Faye really hurt us because we weren't able to work on the field with the ball and we missed our preseason match. But overall, I was quite encouraged by our performance today and hopefully we can keep it up and get the result we want on Monday.”
UNF remains on the west coast and continues play in the UC-Irvine College Classic on Monday at 2:30 p.m. when it faces
