Men's Soccer Downs Mercer

Saturday, February 13

Jacksonville, Fla.

11 a.m.

University of North Florida

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Mercer

1-5-0, 0-0-0

Mercer

North Florida

Ale Rodriguez Lopez points at the camera with a soccer ball.

Photo by: Todd Drexler/SESPORTSMEDIA.com

2/13/2021 1:55:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE – Behind a goal from freshman Ale Rodriguez Lopez and successful penalty kick, North Florida men's soccer picked up a 2-1 victory against visiting Mercer Saturday afternoon.

GOALS

41' | Ale Rodriguez Lopez
67' | Robbie Soronellas (Penalty Kick)
87' | Dawson Gideon (Penalty Kick)

HOW IT HAPPENED

In the 17th minute, LJ Estes has a solid shot off of a free kick, but the Mercer keeper knocked it out high
Later in the frame, Mercer attacked the box but both times were denied with a second shot going wide.
North Florida got on the board in the 41st minute, when Rodriguez Lopez fired a shot from about 22 yards out on the left side of the field and curled it just past the outstretched hands of the Mercer keeper for the goal as UNF took a lead into halftime.
The second half didn't see many chances for either team, but when Herbie Steigelman was darting down the Mercer side of the field, he collected the ball and went into the box where he was tripped up to warrant a penalty kick. Robbie Soronellas stepped to the line to make it a 2-0 game.
In the 83rd minute, the Bears had their best chance as Michael Ille fired a shot that skidded just above the crossbar.
Mercer got its goal in the 87th minute when Gideon snuck his penalty kick in the corner.

RECORDS

North Florida | 1-1
Mercer | 1-5

QUICK KICKS

- Melendez came up with two saves in his first win of the season.
- Rodriguez Lopez led the team with three shots including two on target.
- The shots were relatively even with UNF holding an 8-7 edge and a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks.

FROM THE MOUTH OF MARINATOS

"Obviously pleased with our first win. We started a little unnerved to start the game again and that is something we need to address. I was pleased that we settled down and I thought we had some good moments in the first half. For Ale to get his first goal as a freshman, was great. He stepped up and hit a great shot. For us to go up 1-0 we felt really good about things. Mercer is a tough, physical team and I thought we did a good job in the second half managing the game. We were able to settle down and create some nice opportunities. It was great to get the second goal. For us we have to learn how to take care of the moments. I thought there was a moment after the PK that we could have killed the game off with another goal, and late in the game we made some poor mistakes. We didn't manage the moment when we gave up the late pen and then we had to manage the game to keep their energy down and it was not done well by us. It is stuff we can address and try to fix as we get ready for FIU." - head coach Derek Marinatos