COCOA, Fla. (November 26, 2022) - The Rollins Tars season has come to an end following an unorthodox loss to the Barry Buccaneers. After kicking off their Regional final against Barry on Sunday, November 20, the game was finally finished on Saturday November 26th. The Tars and Bucs tied and moved to penalty kicks where Barry outlasted Rollins to earn a spot in the final four next weekend.
When the game kicked off last weekend, Mother Nature was not in the mood as she pelted Stottler Field on the campus of Florida Tech with rain. Rollins gained an early advantage when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 15th minute.
Georgios Koliniatis did his job, finding the bottom right corner to put the Tars on top.
As the two teams slopped and splashed around for the rest of the half, Rollins took the 1-0 lead into half. During the break, the game officials deemed the field unplayable and suspended the game. It was determined they would pick the game up on Saturday November 26 on the campus of Eastern Florida State College.
It was a beautiful afternoon for soccer. With the lead, Rollins was in full defense mode while Barry was ultra-aggressive on offense. They hit goalie
Maximillian Obermeier with a barrage of shots, all of which were off target or saved.
A bit of drama ensued when in the 57th minute, Buccaneers goalkeeper Nils Buechler was awarded a red card and ejected from the game, putting the Bucs a man down.
The Barry attack finally broke through in the final moments of regulation. With less than four minutes to go, the Bucs were awarded a corner kick that ended up at the feet of Yamil Guana who was able to put the ball past Obermeier for his first goal of the season.
The two teams headed to overtime, where a pair of ten-minute periods were played. Each team had a number of chances, but could not convert, leading to a set of penalty kicks in order to advance.
Things did not go well for the Tars as they missed on three of their four attempts.
Jari Polm was the only Tar to convert his chance. The Buccaneers backup goalie, Jean Claude Consol, was phenomenal with three saves during the penalty kicks.
