MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (October 25, 2022) - The men's soccer team came away with a massive win against #5 Barry on Tuesday, defeating the Bucs by a score of 4-2. Rollins, who earlier in the day rejoined the United Soccer Coaches poll at #24 in the country, improves to 9-3-2 (5-3-1 SSC) on the year. Barry, sitting in first place in the conference entering the night, drops to 9-2-3 (6-1-3 SSC).
It didn't take long for the Tars to grab a lead. In the eleventh minute, Rollins was on the offensive attack.
Nazar Tsaruk took a shot from the right side of the box, missing a goal by inches when it struck the crossbar. Fortunately, the ball landed right in front of
Kaden Foreman who sent the rebound into the back of the net to give Rollins a 1-0 lead.
The next strike in the Tars' offensive display came with a bit of luck. After creating a Buccaneer turnover, the ball was cleared into Bucs territory.
Patrick Horan and a Barry defender raced after the ball, with the keeper also coming out to make a play. Horan was able to get just enough touch on the ball with his head as all three players converged, and softly landed the ball over the line for a 2-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, it was time for another Rollins goal. After a number of quality passes, Tsaruk found himself with a clean look in front of the goal. His shot was saved by Nils Buecheler, but again the rebound went right to a waiting Tar. This time it was
Cole Cecconi who crashed the boards, collected the ball, and used a quick right foot to send it past Buecheler.
Rollins capped their premier season win a fourth goal in the first half. With
Georgios Koliniatis controlling the ball on the left side of the goal, the Bucs defense focused on the Tars' top scorer. After some fancy footwork, Koliniatis sent a crisp pass through the defense to the waiting Tsaruk, whose blasted the ball into the right side for his first goal and fourth point of the night.
Barry did everything they could in the second half to turn things around. They managed to score twice, including a penalty kick goal in the 54th minute, while peppering
Maximillian Obermeier with11 shots. Only four ended up on goal, and the German keeper ended the night with three saves.
Rollins entered the night as the #5 seed in the SSC. At the end of the game, they were tied for fourth with Florida Tech and Nova Southeastern. The top four seeds host playoff games in the SSC bracket format. The Tars will have one more chance to climb the standings, with the final game of the season on Friday, October 28. Rollins will host Florida Southern at Cahall-Sandspur Field, while also honoring the senior class in the final regualr season home game of their careers. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
