Goldberg's Three-Set Triumph Allows No. 68 @OspreyMTEN to Edge Florida Atlantic, 4-3

Wednesday, January 28

Jacksonville, Fla.

3:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: Todd Drexler

Goldberg's Three-Set Triumph Allows No. 68 @OspreyMTEN to Edge Florida Atlantic, 4-3

1/28/2015 7:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Zach Goldberg rallied for a match-winning three-set victory at No. 6 singles in order to lift No. 68 University of North Florida men's tennis to a 4-3 triumph against Florida Atlantic on Wednesday afternoon at the UNF Tennis Complex.

"I am very proud of Zach and how he handled the situation of getting the fourth and deciding point, " said assistant coach Malte Stropp. "Florida Atlantic fought hard today and made our day on the court pretty tough. We played too many loose games on a couple of courts, which helped Florida Atlantic stay in the match. I hope the guys have learned from this match.

Goldberg had lost the first set to Robert Dubuque 7-5, but came back with a 6-4 second set in order to force a deciding set. He overpowered Dubuque 6-3 in the third set to clinch the fourth and final singles point for the Ospreys.

UNF got out to a 1-0 lead in the match after capturing the doubles point with 6-4 victories on both the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. Lasse Muscheites and Goldberg got the first of the 6-4 wins, defeating Dubuque and Kian Mclean at No. 2 doubles. Caio Gomes and Julian Bradley sealed the doubles point with their victory against Richard Meade and Zandrix Acob at No. 3 doubles.

The Ospreys gained a 2-0 advantage as No. 72 Jack Findel-Hawkins cruised past Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

However, Florida Atlantic evened the team score at 2-2 with a pair of wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles. Acob held off a late, second-set surge by Muscheites for a 6-4, 6-4 on the No. 4 court. Bradley saw Mclean fight back to take a three-set, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 5 singles.

Gomes' win at No. 2 singles allowed UNF to take a 3-2 advantage. Gomes fended off Meade 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in a three-set thriller.

Florida Atlantic quickly tied the match up at 3-3 after Norbert Nemcsek was unable to complete his rally at No. 3 singles. Nemcsek took the first set against Will Neuner 6-4, but Neuner came back for a 6-2 second-set victory. Neuner had a large lead in the third set, but Nemcsek closed the gap to force a 5-5 tie. However, Neuner got the set's last two points for a 7-5 win.

Wednesday's win caps off a day full of notable achievements. Earlier in the day, the ITA released its latest Team Rankings and the Ospreys moved up one spot to No. 68. Findel-Hawkins was honored by the Atlantic Sun Conference as the Men's Tennis Player of the Week.

UNF has over two weeks until its next match. The Ospreys return to action on Friday, Feb. 13 against UCF at the UNF Tennis Complex at 2 p.m. The match is also billed as International Day.

Match Results
No. 68 UNF 4, Florida Atlantic 3
Singles Competition:
No. 1 – #72 Jack Findel-Hawkins (UNF) def. Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff (FAU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 – Caio Gomes (UNF) def. Richard Meade (FAU) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
No. 3 – Will Neuner (FAU) def. Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 – Zandrix Acob (FAU) def. Lasse Muscheites (UNF) 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 – Kian Mclean (FAU) def. Julian Bradley (UNF) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 – Zach Goldberg (UNF) def. Robert Dubuque (FAU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Doubles Competition:
No. 1 – #28 Norbert Nemcsek/Jack Findel-Hawkins (UNF) vs. Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff/Will Neuner (FAU) 5-6, unfinished
No. 2 – Lasse Muscheites/Zach Goldberg (UNF) def. Robert Dubuque/Kian Mclean (FAU) 6-4
No. 3 – Caio Gomes/Julian Bradley (UNF) def. Richard Meade/Zandrix Acob (FAU) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles: (2,3); Singles (1, 4, 5, 2, 3, 6)