PENSACOLA, Fla. (September 8, 2006) ' The
seventh ranked Rollins men's soccer team lost 3-1 to West Florida
(#18) in a physical, hard-fought match at the UWF Soccer Complex on
Friday.
The first loss of the season brought the Tars' record down to
4-1, and the Argonauts now also stand at 4-1.
The first goal of the game came 21 minutes in when Felipe Lawall
connected with Keith Savage for a shot from a distance of roughly
eight yards.' Lawall scored one himself just two minutes later on a
free kick from just outside the penalty area.' The Tars got on the
board in the 27th minute when Dennis Chin sent a cross into the
middle and one West Florida defender deflected the ball off another
for the own goal.' The final goal of the game came just 40 seconds
into the second half when Rollins was called for a foul in the
penalty area.' Lawall converted the penalty kick to give the Argos
the 3-1 lead.
Bodies flew and tempers flared throughout the game.' Rollins was
called for 13 fouls and West Florida 18, but the feeling after the
match was that there could have been much more.' One controversial
decision 15 minutes into the second half changed the face of the
game completely.' A Rollins player was brought down by a foul and
originally a penalty kick was awarded to the Tars.' After plenty of
discussion by the officials, they changed the call to a free kick
outside the penalty area.' Tars star forward Chris Cerroni was set
to take the penalty kick, but he was ejected from the game after
arguing the reversed decision, leaving Rollins down two goals and
one player for the rest of the game.
Despite being one player down for much of the second half, the
Tars led the Argos in shots after halftime 11-9.' West Florida
finished the game with 22 total shots compared to 16 for Rollins.'
The Argos had 11 corner kicks, and Rollins attempted four.' Argos
goalkeeper Juan Garcia saved five shots, and his Rollins
counterpart Frazer Siddall saved four.
The Tars will travel to Thomasville, Ga. for the second game in
their South Region weekend road trip for a match against Thomas
University.' The men's game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., and
the women will begin at noon.' Fans can listen to all the action at
www.RollinsSports.com.
