Colleges: Buccaneers too much for Lions

Three second half goals, including two in the final 25 minutes, moved Barry’s winning streak to six games, snapping Saint Leo’s three-game winning streak in the process as the Buccaneers defeated the Lions 3-1 on Saturday night at Buccaneer Field.

After a scoreless opening half, the Buccaneers (10-4-1, 4-2-0 SSC) took the lead four minutes after the break as Mark Anderson scored his 14 goals of the season. Anderson picked up a pass at the top of the penalty area, eluded his defender and slid a shot under Lions goalkeeper Erik Mozzo from 12 yards out.

Saint Leo was able to respond in the 63rd minute a shot by Bruce Cutler forcing a corner kick. Cutler’s corner was headed to the top of the penalty area, where Viktor Wicknor controlled and fired a shot that found its way through traffic in the penalty area in into the back of the net.

The Lions (6-7-0, 2-4-0) weren’t on level terms for long, though, as the Buccaneers restored their lead back three minutes later. From a Buccaneers corner, the ball came to Randy Taylor, whose deflected shot from just outside the penalty area made it 2-1.

Barry added an insurance goal with 12 minutes to play as Sascha Koettig bundled the ball home after the Lions failed to clear a long ball into their penalty area.

The Lions have a week before they return to competitive action, travelling to face Nova Southeastern on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Colleges: Lions close home schedule with victory

A pair of goals in the first four minutes propelled Saint Leo to a 3-1 victory against Florida Southern at University Field on Wednesday evening.

Leonardo Nogueira opened the scoring in the second minute, slipping unmarked into the penalty area to be found by a pass by Bruce Cutler. Nogueira took a touch to control before blasting his shot into the top-left corner of the net.

The Lions (6-6-0, 2-3-0) doubled their lead two minutes later, as a corner by Cutler was flicked on by Jonathan Glenn, finding Cody Allen at the far post for a close-range finish.

Florida Southern (1-9-0, 1-5-0) pulled a goal back quickly, Jovaughn Howard’s shot eluding Lions goalkeeper Erik Mozzo’s grasp to make the score 2-1 in the sixth minute.

Saint Leo gave itself a two-goal cushion early in the second half as it scored on a slightly fortuitous goal. A long ball forward by Cutler towards Glenn at the top of the penalty area was met by Florida Southern goalkeeper Johan Jonsson, but he only succeeded in punching the ball off the back of Glenn’s head, the ball rebounding into the vacant net.

The win wrapped up the Lions regular season home schedule, with three games on the road to come. The first of those comes this Saturday as they travel to Miami Shores to face Barry University.

College Matchday: Florida Southern at Saint Leo

WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m., University Field

NEED TO KNOW: The Lions look to continue their recent run of form as they welcome Florida Southern for their final home contest of the regular season.

Saint Leo (5-6-0, 1-3-0) earned its first Sunshine State Conference win of the season on Saturday as it upset Lynn 2-1 on a late goal by Leonardo Nogueira. The win was the second straight for the Lions, who had defeated Thomas University earlier in the week.

For his efforts over the two contests, Lions goalkeeper Erik Mozzo earned the Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time this season.

Florida Southern (1-8-0, 1-4-0) has had a tough season, losing its last five games including a 4-0 setback against the University of Tampa last time out. The Moccasins only victory this season came in their opening SSC contest against Florida Tech.

Colleges: Lions grab late upset of No.14 Lynn

Leonardo Noguiera’s 88th minute bicycle kick grabbed a stunning victory for Saint Leo, who upset No.14 Lynn 2-1 on Saturday night at University Field, earning the Lions their first Sunshine State Conference victory of the season.

After Jonathan Glenn won a corner for the Lions, Bruce Cutler’s delivery into the penalty area was cleared to Daniel Asher, who hit and angled cross back into the area. Glenn redirected the cross, and it bounced once before Nogueira drove the ball home with his right foot.

Saint Leo (5-6-0, 1-3-0 SSC) had taken the lead in the 13th minute, as Viktor Wicknor picked up a pass from Asher just outside the penalty, and unleashed a shot the flew past diving Lynn goalkeeper Alessandro Salvatore.

The Fighting Knights (11-2-0, 2-2-0) tied the game six minutes later, though, as Paulo Vaz stole in behind the Lions defense to put himself in one-on-one on Saint Leo goalkeeper Erik Mozzo. Mozzo saved Vaz’s initial shot, but couldn’t keep the rebound out of the goal, as Vaz scored his 16th goal of the season.

Lynn pushed for a winner taking 13 second half shots, forcing Mozzo into three saves before Noguiera’s dramatic winner with two minutes to play handed the Fighting Knights their second loss in eight days in the bay area. Lynn lost 2-1 to the University of Tampa in double-overtime on October 2.

Saint Leo will try to extend its two-game winning streak on Wednesday as it hosts Florida Southern at 7 p.m. before closing the regular season with three games on the road.

Colleges: Lions men getting back to full strength

SAINT LEO – While it hasn’t been quite on the same scale as its women’s team, the Saint Leo men’s soccer team hasn’t been having the best go of it in the health department either.

Thankfully, though, for Coach Joel Harrison, the Lions have almost their full squad back after the flu gradually made its way through the locker room.

According to Harrison, the illnesses started popping up after the trip to Georgia Southwestern State. At one point the squad was reduced to only 14 players at training, and the Lions had to play with a vastly shorter bench than normal. That affected the team’s preparation leading into its games last week against Flagler and Rollins.

Now he has all but two of three members of the 30-man roster available, meaning the Lions can incorporate 11-on-11 work into practice again, something Harrison said helps a great deal.

“In practice, you work on pieces, you take pieces of the game and work on it, and you want to be able to put that into a full-sided game at the end,” Harrison said. “We could work on the bits and pieces, but we couldn’t put it into the full-sided to make sure that everyone was getting it worked on in an 11-on-11 match.”

Now the Lions face Eckerd on Tuesday night before hosting Florida Tech on Saturday night. The Lions are currently on a three-game losing streak, but Harrison is focused on what lies ahead for his team.

“For us we’re just focusing, I know its cliché-ish, but we’re focusing on one game at a time,” he said. “You can’t predict the future, and you can’t go back and change the past, so you focus on the next match and go out and do the best we can.”

MAKING A MARK: Freshman Erik Mozzo hasn’t been shy about making his presence felt, something that has made Harrison very happy with his young goalkeeper.

“Sometimes freshmen don’t want to tell upperclassmen what to do,” Harrison said, “but as a goalkeeper he’s stepped right in and he knows it doesn’t matter what year I am in school, I’ve got to talk to the guys in front of me to tell them what I want.”

Mozzo, from Beaufort, S.C., has already earned a Sunshine State Conference defensive player of the week award, and has quickly earned the trust of the rest of the team. Harrison said his play isn’t a surprise, because when the team brought him in for tryouts, as Division II schools are allowed to in recruiting, he was exactly the same way.

“He was back there, he never kept anything to himself,” Harrison said. “We’ve reinforced that he’s got to continue doing that, but he was already doing that.”

STEPPING UP: The absences caused by injuries meant that some new faces got chances to contribute to the side, and Harrison is pleased with what he has seen from many of them.

“Cody Allen has done very well,” Harrison said. “He’s a kid who in his first two years didn’t play a lot, and has stepped in and done very well.”

Three freshmen have also caught the coach’s eye, with Matt Stewart, Jason Manaras and Michael Panter all finding themselves on the field at key points of recent games. Harrison said he thought Panter did very well after being brought on late against Rollins as he provided dangerous crosses into the Tars penalty area when the Lions were looking for an equalizer.

“We’ve had a couple of younger guys that haven’t played a lot,” Harrison said. “But when they’ve got in they’ve done well and are starting to get a feel for college soccer.”