MELBOURNE, Fla. (November 18, 2022) - The Rollins Tars battled hard all game and emerged victorious on Friday evening, taking down the #1 seed and previously undefeated Florida Tech Panthers 2-0 to advance to the Super Region 2 finals. The Tars now stand at 11-4-3 on the season, while Tech wraps up with a 10-1-7 record.
The first half was extremely physical as both teams fought for an advantage. Florida Tech seemingly won most of the possessions, and fired off six shots in the opening period. Fortunately for Rollins,
Maximillian Obermeier was on his A-game for this one, and did not let any balls through. The Panthers had multiple chances, including one possession where Obermeier ricocheted three separate shots. Rollins did not manage an on goal chance, as the notorious Tech defense held strong.
The second half was a different story as the Tars dominated time of possession. They spent the majority of their time in the Panther zone, and slowly broke down the defense. Their efforts were rewarded late in the game on an attack. After a corner kick was deflected back out to 30 yards from the box, the ball was moved to
Nazar Tsaruk on the far right. His entry pass was perfect, and found defender
Sam Latty, who had snuck behind the Panther defense. His back header went right past goalie Luis Tovar Romero, who was the SSC Defensive Player of the Year, to give Rollins a 1-0 lead with only twelve minutes to play.
Florida Tech had to attempt to force the action on offense with the clock ticking away. They managed a few decent looks, but the back line defense of the Tars held strong. Then, with three minutes to go, Tsaruk broke free with the ball and started racing down field. As the defense collapsed on him, he dished a perfect assist to
Patrick Horan who calmly netted his fourth goal of the year to seal the deal for Rollins.
Obermeier ended the game with three saves, and was fantastic in goal, posting his fourth shutout of the season. For atty it was the defender's first goal of the season.
Earlier in the day, SSC foe Barry defeated Wingate, 2-1. The Tars will face the Bucs on the campus of Florida Tech on Sunday, November 20. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 pm
