Falcons Fly High Over Ave Maria
AVE MARIA, Fla. - The Florida College men's soccer team traveled Tuesday, September 11th to Ave Maria, Florida to take on the Gyrenes in what would turn out to be a very entertaining contest. Ultimately, the Falcons came out on top with a 5-2 scoreline, improving their record to 2-0-1 on the season.
In the early going both teams battled fiercely to gain control of the game with the Falcons creating good scoring opportunities early on but were not able to put any away. In the 20th minute, Ave Maria opened the scoring with a goal from Kensley Jean Baptiste. The Falcons wasted no time evening things up just five minutes later when the ball came to Connor Nixon on the left corner of the 18-yard box; taking the ball out of his feet, he fired a hard shot that would deflect off the crossbar and in. The Falcons pushed immediately after the goal to go ahead with goal number two on the day, with Groutchov Pierre leaving two defenders in his wake and finding Krist Berisha who tucked it away easily, putting the Falcons up 2-1 in the 26th minute. The two Falcon goals were less than a minute apart. The lead was dissolved quickly as the Gyrenes found the equalizer from Donte Powell in the 27th minute. The goal scoring action continued as Groutchov Pierre beat another Gyrenes defender and slipped the ball by keeper Andrea Salomone in the 33rd minute, sending Florida College into halftime with a narrow 3-2 lead.
Both teams came out in the second half looking refreshed from the break and battling hard again, but ultimately the Falcons were too much for the Gyrenes. Davinson Mera notched a goal in the 52nd minute to extend the lead to a 4-2 score. Mera was assisted by Pierre, who slipped a nice ball through with Mera smashing home the ball with precision. The Falcons would add another goal in the 75th minute with Marc Joseph finishing cleanly in front of goal from the Kristopher Ospina pass. The Falcons would hold the Gyrenes from any scoring in the second half with excellent defensive efforts and solid goalkeeping, earning them the 5-2 victory. Both goalkeepers were sharp in the contest with Carlos Contreras getting the win while making 3 saves on the day.
The Falcons will be back in action soon as they travel to Johnson University on Friday, September 14th to take on Bahamas University. Be sure to follow the men and women's soccer team by downloading the Florida College Athletics app and following us on Twitter @FC_Athletics_