Nashville, Tenn. ? Goalkeeper Marc Galizia (Bradenton, Fla.) and the Stetson defense picked up their fourth shutout of the season 2-0 over Belmont. With the win the Hatters clinched a spot in the upcoming Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Tournament. It is the 11th consecutive season the Hatters have played in the post-season event.
After over 35 minutes of scoreless play it was freshman Fredrik Brustad (Oslo, Norway) who broke the ice and lit up the board with a blast from 10 feet outside the box. Fellow freshman Ryan Asare-Bediako assisted on the play. It was the second goal of the season for Brustad and the second assist for Asare-Bediako.
Stetson's second goal came off a header from junior Set Carpintero (Orlando, Fla.). Senior Kirk Labusch delivered the crossing pass into the penalty area to assume the team lead in assists with four. It was the first goal of the season and fourth of his career for Carpintero.
In a back-and-forth battle it was the Hatters' defense that was the story of the game. With Robert Hodge (Devon, England) sitting out due to a red card Friday night at Lipscomb, it was Richard Porteous (Austin, Texas), Alex Robinson (DeLand, Fla.) and Miguel Rodrigues (Johannesburg, South Africa) who aptly defended the pitch in front of Galizia.
“Overall we played really well and stepped up as a team,” said Porteous. “Not having Hodgy was a big loss for us. It was good to see us show character and come back from a tough loss on Friday.”
Stetson claimed a 14-10 advantage in shots and Galizia made six saves en route to his third clean sheet of the season.
“It was a hard-fought match,” said Head Coach Logan Fleck. “Our defense closed the door today led by Richard (Porteous) who exemplified what a captain should be.”
The Hatters return home for two final regular season games next weekend. They take on USC Upstate Friday at 7:00 p.m. and ETSU at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. Sunday will also be Senior Day, the final home game in the careers of seniors Kirk Labusch, Richard Porteous, Marc Galizia, Cody Dawson, and Alex Robinson.
