JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Atlantic Sun Conference playoffs returns to Hodges Stadium on Saturday night when the second-seeded North Florida men's soccer team (8-6-1) plays host to the third seed, Lipscomb (6-9-1) at 7:00 p.m. The Ospreys are seeking their third-straight appearance in the A-Sun title game.
Game Notes
Semifinal Rematch: Saturday night's match will be a rematch of last year's semifinal in Nashville. The Ospreys upset the top-seeded Bisons, 3-0 to advance to the championship game.
Drew Spragg registered a goal and an assist while
Helge Pietschmann and
Milan Kovacs each found the back of the net.
Second Time Around: An identical outcome of last year's playoff game was produced in this year's regular season. The Ospreys scored three, second half goals on Oct. 3 led by freshman Josh Castellanos's tally in the 61
st minute. Senior
Alex Morrell put together his second, two-assist game of his career and actually drew the foul in the box on
Helge Pietschmann's penalty kick goal in the 85
th minute.
No Place Like Home: Hodges Stadium will be hosting its first Atlantic Sun Conference Men's Soccer playoff game since 2009. This season the Ospreys are 5-1-1 at home with the only loss coming on Aug. 30 to Georgia St.
Close Calls: With a win in the regular season, North Florida took control of the all-time series against Lipscomb, 6-5-1. The Bisons however are 3-1 in Jacksonville since 2008 and three of those four games were decided by one goal or less.
A-Sun Honors: This year's North Florida men's soccer team is the most decorated team in the history of the program with eight players recognized by the conference and Head Coach
Derek Marinatos winning the Co-Coach of the Year award.
Marinatos Playoff Success: Head Coach
Derek Marinatos is the winningest postseason coach in North Florida history. In just five seasons at the helm, he has qualified for the postseason three times and reached the conference championship game twice. He boasts a 4-2 career record in the Atlantic Sun Conference playoffs.
About Lipscomb: The defending regular season champion Bisons defeated Stetson, 3-0 on the final day of the regular season to earn the third seed in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. Lipscomb played seven games in the month October including games against ranked foes, No. 13 Elon and No. 22 FGCU. Red-shirt freshman Logan Paynter scored six goals this en route to First Team All-Conference honors. Sophomore Ivan Alvarado joined him on the First Team with finished with four goals.
