University of North Florida
UC Riverside
Men’s Soccer Drops Match to UCR
9/23/2011 9:57:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Boxscore
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's soccer team fell 2-0 on Friday night to UC Riverside at Hodges Stadium on a rainy night in the final nonconference match of the season. The loss drops the Ospreys to 1-7-0, while the win improves the Highlanders to 4-2-1.
Offensively, the two teams played nearly even with UCR edging out UNF 11-to-9 on shots. The Ospreys took three shot on goal, but were unable to break the plain of the goal. North Florida was led by freshman Teddy Mulamba who recorded a pair of shots on the night including a shot on goal. Oscar Castillo, Nick May, Luis Daniel Camejo, Josh Ciambella, Casey Caronis and even goalkeeper Federico Bertele registered shots on the night. Bertele and Castillo's shots came on goal.
At goal, Bertele recorded four saves on the night. The freshman kept the Highlanders off the scoreboard for the first 59 minutes of the match. He was charged with a second goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the match, despite being forward to help out the offense.
Neither team was able to scratch the scoreboard in the first half. UC Riverside held a slight 5-to-4 advantage in shots in the first half, but Bertele and the Ospreys held a decisive 3-to-0 advantage in saves in the first stanza.
UCR broke the scoreless deadlock with a goal in the 60th minute. Cesar Diaz Pizzaro and Joel Garcia combined for the assist on Ruben Valencia's goal. The duo led to the corner and had a one-touch cross across the goal to Valencia who finished near post.
The score remained 1-0 for most of the second half. The Ospreys pulled the goalie and moved him up to the midfield to have an extra man on the attack with just under a minute to play. Bertele took a cross and headed it towards the goal, but the shot was saved by the Highlander keeper. UCR made a quick recovery back and managed to get the ball past the UNF defense and score on an open net with just 10 ticks left on the clock to provide the final margin of victory.
North Florida returns to action on Thursday, Sept. 29, as the Ospreys head to Macon, Ga. to open up Atlantic Sun Conference play with a match against Mercer. Kickoff for the match is slated for 7 p.m.
