Men's Soccer Falls Short in Comeback Attempt at Bellarmine

Saturday, October 14

Louisville, Ky.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

2-6-4, 0-4-1

Bellarmine

4-2-6, 2-1-2

North Florida

Bellarmine

10/14/2023 9:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Joaquin Acuna Scored Fourth Goal of Season in 78th Minute

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After facing a two-goal deficit early in the match, North Florida men's soccer (2-6-4, 0-4-1) had a chance to force a draw after a late score in the 78th minute by Joaquin Acuna, but came up just short in a 2-1 road loss against Bellarmine (4-2-6, 2-1-2) on Saturday evening.

The Ospreys allowed a goal off a bad bounce within the first five minutes, followed by a second-chance score in the 15th minute to go down 2-0 early in the match. UNF eventually fought back late in the game with a score to cut the deficit in half, but could not find enough time to net the equalizer in a crucial ASUN match.

GOALS

4' | Juan Ballas (Unassisted) - BELL
15' | Jack Fischer (Ben Griffis) - BELL
78' | Joaquin Acuna (Felix Frenz & Braden Masker) - UNF

HOW IT HAPPENED

An unlucky bounce allowed Bellarmine to get past the Osprey defense and score early in the match with a goal in the fourth minute.
Another goal was scored by the Knights in the 15th minute after a save was made by Chema Preciado, but the rebound was crossed over for Bellarmine's second goal.
In the 33rd minute, Joaquin Acuna just missed on a header that would've seen the back of the net, followed by Herbie Steigelman's attempt that went over the crossbar.
Luc Granitur had a shot in the box from the right side, but it was put out of play to send the Ospreys to the half down two scores.
Acuna kicked the Ospreys' first shot on goal in the 56th minute, but the save was made to keep the deficit at two.
UNF had another opportunity in the 78th minute and were able to capitalized with an impressive goal from Acuna to cut the Bellarmine lead down to one.
The Ospreys made an offensive push in the final minutes of the game, but the shot by Herbie Steigelman was blocked with under 30 seconds left to fall short of an equalizing goal.

RECORDS

North Florida | 2-6-4, 0-4-1
Bellarmine | 4-2-6, 2-1-2

QUICK KICKS

Acuna continues to score goals with his fourth of the season, as well as back-to-back games with a score.
The junior has also either scored or assisted on a goal in three of his past four appearances.
Braden Masker becomes the third UNF player this season to have multiple assists, while Felix Frenz earns his first assist as an Osprey.
Bendeguz Burka led the team with four shot attempts, which matched his career-high set in 2019 and was one short of the team high this season at five by Acuna.
Nine of 11 Ospreys played the full 90-minute match, as only two players were substituted by UNF throughout the entirety of the game.
UNF outshot the Knights in the first half, 7-4, and in the game, 19-10, but only had four shot-on-goal attempts through 90 minutes.
Rentaro Miyakawa received his first start since playing FAU on Sept. 12, while Braden Masker made his third start of the season.

FROM THE MOUTH OF MARINATOS

"We made is very difficult for ourselves giving up the bad early goal and then gave up the second. We regrouped at half and out-shot and outplayed them, but did not finish some of the quality chances we created. Credit to a tough Bellarmine squad. We have to re-group and get ready for Queens on senior night."
-- head coach Derek Marinatos

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will honor its seniors during its final home game of the season against Queens (N.C.) on Saturday, Oct. 21, with kickoff set at 7 p.m., at Hodges Stadium.