FGCU Edges #MSOC 2-1 on Senior Night

Saturday, November 9

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

6-6-3, 2-4-2ASUN

Florida Gulf Coast

8-6-2, 6-1-1ASUN

Florida Gulf Coast

North Florida

11/9/2013 10:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Final Boxscore (pdf)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The North Florida men's soccer team concluded their regular season schedule with a hard fought 2-1 loss Saturday night against Florida Gulf Coast at Hodges Stadium.

With the loss, UNF finishes with a 2-4-2 record in Atlantic Sun Conference play and carries a 6-6-3 overall record into postseason play. FGCU, who claimed the ASun regular season title, improved to 8-6-2 and 6-1-1.

In an evenly played game, the Eagles earned a slight 12-10 edge in shots while both teams had six corner kicks. UNF's Brad Sienkiewicz finished the game with three saves while FGCU's Danny George tallied four stops.

North Florida played 17 different players and started all three of its seniors -- Sienkiewicz, Grady Trimble and Luis Daniel Camejo.

"We wanted to play our healthy guys while also giving some of our other guys a rest heading into postseason play," said UNF head coach Derek Marinatos. "I felt like the guys did a good job of executing our plan and gave ourselves some chances. We were a bit unlucky that our penalty kick hit the post because that could have changed the game. Give them credit for converting on a counter for their first goal. I was very proud of how we competed tonight."

The Ospreys looked to get on the board first after earning a penalty kick attempt in the 23rd minute, but Demetri Zervos' shot bounced off the right post keeping the game scoreless.

Florida Gulf Coast eventually got on the board when leading scorer Felipe DeSouza carried a ball down the left side and then cut back into the box where he slipped a low shot just inside the left post for the 1-0 advantage. The score remain that way into the halftime break.

The Ospreys evened the score early in the second half when a corner kick deflected off an FGCU defender into the net. However, the Eagles responded minutes later when Henry Penagos finished off a diagonal cross from Isaiah Madrid for the game winning score.

Up next for North Florida will be their first appearance at the Atlantic Sun Championship Tournament since 2009. The Ospreys earned the No. 5 seed and will meet No. 4 seed Mercer on Wednesday in Ft. Myers, Fla.