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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida (1-0-1) played UNC Greensboro (1-0-1) to a 2-2 tie and clinched its third Mike Gibbs Tournament Championship in the last four years.
Milan Kovacs was named the tournament's Offensive MVP and
Micah Smoak was named the Defensive MVP.
Goals
24' – UNF:
Micah Smoak (2) – Unassisted
54' – UNF:
Aidan D'Mello (1) – Assist:
Cormac Begley
69' – UNCG: Hugo Coicaud (1) – Assist: Ethan Wells
79' – UNCG: Alexander Lewis (10 – Assist: Tavion Webb
Game Summary
The Ospreys jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the first 54 minutes of play but UNCG fought back and scored two goals in a 10-minute span to tie the game up. Smoak kicked off the Osprey scoring in the 24
th minute with a laser into the top right corner of the net off a set piece. The goal was the second of the season for the junior transfer.
Freshman
Cormac Begley orchestrated the Osprey second goal by beating a trio of defenders to get off a cross to the back post. The pass was placed perfectly to an awaiting
Aidan D'Mello who one-timed it into the back of the net.
The early two-goal advantage was short-lived as the Spartans began to chip away with a goal off a corner kick in the 69
th minute. Ten minutes later the game was knotted at two on a goal by Alexander Lewis.
Both defenses took over from that point forward. Besides the three goals only one other shot went on net in the final 45 minutes of regulation. Both teams failed to record a shot on goal in the overtime periods.
Key Moments
14' – UNCG's first shot of the night was denied by goalkeeper
Juanes Fajardo. The close range shot was poked away with one hand by a diving Fajardo.
24' – Free kick attempt by
Micah Smoak bent in to the upper right 90 part of the goal for the game's first goal.
48' –
Glenn Johnson nearly scored his first collegiate goal when his close range shot attempt sailed just high.
54' –
Cormac Begley dribbled around and eventually through three UNCG defenders before firing a perfect cross to
Aidan D'Mello who one-timed it into the back of the net from the back post.
69'- In his first action of the season, Hugo Coicaud headed in a perfect service from Ethan Wells' corner kick.
79' – The UNCG equalizer came off the foot of Alexander Lewis on a nice delivery from Tavion Webb.
96' – UNCG's Elayas Omar nearly won the game for the Spartans but had his wide open shot attempt go high.
From Coach Marinatos.
On the result:
"At the end of the day we were able to capture the tournament championship which was our goal from the beginning of the weekend. I'm disappointed we were unable to come out with the win but I'm proud of our guys' effort.
On the final third of the game:
"After giving up the two goals to tie we were able to battle back defensively. A credit to UNCG, they are a tough, physical team that played a great game.
Up Next: The Ospreys will be on the road next weekend for a Friday night matchup with Campbell before a showdown with N.C. State in Raleigh on Monday night.
All-Tournament Team
Micah Smoak – UNF – Defensive MVP
Jay Bolt – UNF
Milan Kovacs – UNF – Offensive MVP
Cormac Begley – UNF
Quintino Lema – UNCG
Alex Lewis – UNCG
Casey Penland – UNCG
Rasmus Arousell – Winthrop
James Skonicki – Winthrop
Jack Burns - Jacksonville
Diego Sanchez - Jacksonville
Final Tournament Standings
First Place: North Florida (1-0-1) 4 points**
Second Place: UNCG (1-0-1) 4 points
Third Place: Winthrop (1-1) 3 points
Fourth Place: Jacksonville (0-2) 0 points
**Tiebreaker of goal differential applied, UNF +3; UNCG +2
