WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 2, 2024) - Nothing, not even a red card, could slow down the Rollins offense on Saturday night as they celebrated Senior day with a 4-2 win over the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish. The win propels the Tars to 7-5-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the SSC. The Sailfish drop to 6-4-3, 5-3-1 SSC.
The game plan for this one was to shoot early and often. Rollins took seven shots before connecting on their eighth in the 16th minute.
Kaden Foreman delivered a beauty of a ball from about 25 yards out, bouncing it off the far post to put Rollins up 1-0.
Exactly one minute later, Foreman was ejected after receiving a red card. Video replay after the game that Foreman was not the player who committed the foul, but was ejected anyway, putting Rollins a man down.
Despite the disadvantage, the Tars continued to play on both sides of the ball. A wave of excitement came over the crowd near the end of the half when
Jorge Lameiras took a shot from beyond the midfield line as the Sailfish keeper had come out too far from his cage. Unfortunately for the Tars, Omar Einarsson was able to retreat and make the save before disaster struck.
Just four minutes in to the second half, freshman
Finlay Prain showcased a dazzling display of ball control and footwork, working himself free of the defense with enough room to rip a strike past Einarsson to put Rollins up 2-0.
On the ensuing possession, Lameiras broke free and had a clear path to the goal. Einarsson came out to meet him, and fouled him in the process, earning a red and ejection, putting the game back to even at ten men each.
Two minutes after the ejection,
Pedro Lameiras received a loose ball off the foot of
Tommy Link, and delivered a shot to the back of the net for the third goal of the match.
The Sailfish would get a goal back a minute later, spoiling the shutout chance for Rollins.
A fourth goal came easy for the Tars when
Mikkel Fodstad broke free down the sideline. After working the ball around the reserve keeper, Fodstad attempted a shot from the sideline. As it trickled in towards the box,
Jorge Lameiras was able to tap the ball in for his league-leading ninth of the season.
The final brace of the game came from Jake Strachan on a perfect cross from Agustin Belgiorno in the 78th minute.
Rollins lit up the box score, putting a preposterous 26 shots in play, with eleven on target. Jorge was the leader with a career-high ten shots taken, with five on goal.
Jabari Gray recorded five saves in the win.
The win was massive for the Tars from a conference perspective, vaulting them from fifth to a tie for third with Palm Beach Atlantic. With one game remaining, the Tars can capture the two seed (and a first-round bye) if they can defeat current #2 seed Nova Southeastern on Thursday, November 7. The game will be played in Winter Park with kickoff at 6:00 pm.
