DeLand, Fla. ? All season Stetson's greatest strength was its defense. Unfortunately it did not hold up Wednesday night in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. After leads of 2-0, and 3-1, the Hatters fell to Belmont 4-3 in the second overtime period. It was the second consecutive year Stetson dropped its quarterfinal match in the postseason tournament.
Stetson looked strong early jumping out to an early lead on goals by Fredrik Brustad (Oslo, Norway) and Dan Sackman (Hampshire, England). Brustad scored his 5th goal of the season on a pass by Kevin Munz (Jupiter, Fla.) that split the back four and sent him in alone. Sackman scored his first goal of the season and second of his career when Alex Robinson (DeLand, Fla.) headed the ball down to his feet off a corner kick.
Coming out of the half down 2-0, Belmont's Dan Meacock scored his first of two goals on a counter attack to give the Bruins hope. Stetson freshman Gonzalo deMujica quickly dashed those hopes with a goal of his own 35 seconds later to make the score 3-1.
With its second 2-goal lead Stetson began to play a protective brand of soccer and it cost them when Meacock played a tremendous volley from Edgardo Padilla at the top of the box that got past Stetson goalkeeper Marc Galizia (Bradenton, Fla.).
Belmont's tying goal with less than three minutes remaining was not without controversy. Justin Hay played a corner kick that was headed toward the goal by Brett Parker. Galizia made the stop, yet the linesman ruled that Galizia was inside the goal and the ball had crossed the line. The game was tied and went into overtime.
In the second overtime period Robert Hodge (Devon, England) picked up a yellow card for a hard foul inside the Stetson box. The ensuing penalty kick at 105:36 ended the game and the season for the Hatters. It was a tough conclusion for Hodge who was named First Team All-Conference just yesterday, and for the Hatters team that had the game in hand and let it slip away.
On the upside, 50 percent of the 2008 squad was comprised freshmen. Both Brustad and de Mujica were named to the A-Sun All-Freshman team. It is a very talented young team that has a bright future in the years to come.
