WINTER PARK, Fla. (September 25, 2024) - An early deficit roved to be too much to overcome as the Rollins Tars fell at home against the Florida Tech Panthers on Wednesday, 4-2. The Tars fall to 2-3 on the year, while the Panthers improve to 3-2.
Following a brief weather delay that pushed the start time back about twenty minutes, the game enjoyed a perfect evening for soccer. The Panthers came out as the aggressor early on, controlling the time of possession and keeping the ball on the Tars' side of the field.
The scoreboard saw its first action of the night in the 21st minute when a cross from Osvaldo Santana was headed in by Jonas Schmitt. Only one minute later, Florida Tech struck again. This time, Hermann Runarsson sent the ball into the box where Filippo Fazzi used a nifty back kick to beat
Jabari Gray.
Following the halftime break, the Tars showed more fight than in the first half, but could not get on the board early, despite a number of shots on goal. Meanwhile, Tech added their third goal when Fazzi assisted Runarsson in the 60th minute.
Rollins took their time on the next possession, and eventually
Mikkel Fodstad was able to get a clean shot on goal. The Panthers' keeper stopped the shot, ut
Isaac Hunter collected the rebound and blasted it home for his first goal of the year.
About ten minutes later,
Yousef Shakweer was fouled in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Senior
Rory Doyle was selected to take the freebie, and he delivered with a shot to the right side of the net to pull the Tars within one.
The fight continued on, including three more shots from the Tars. All were either off-target or stopped by Iker Bastida. The scoring would wrap up in the 85th minute when Jacopo Ghezzi powered a free kick off the outstretched hand of Gray to make the final of 4-2.
The Tars out shot the Panthers 13-5 in the second half, and had eight corners to Tech's two. They also won the yellow card battle, earning five cautions to the Panthers' one.
Rollins played the match down their leading goal scorer (
Jorge Lameiras) and middle back (
Hayden Judge).
Next up for the Tars is a road match at Barry on Saturday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm from Miami Shores.
