DeLand, Fla. - Junior midfielder Kai Eckenrode (Springfield, Va.) scored his first goal of the season, but the Stetson men's soccer team (3-5-1, 0-1-0 Atlantic Sun) suffered a 3-1 setback to visiting Florida Gulf Coast (4-2-2, 1-0-0 A-Sun) in the A-Sun opener for both squads Friday evening at the Stetson Soccer Complex. The Eagles scored three times in the second half to erase an early 1-0 Hatter advantage.
Stetson had the better of the run of play throughout the first half, out-shooting FGCU 8-5 and taking a 1-0 lead into the intermission. The Hatters earned that goal in the 29th minute as junior midfielder Jonathan Mendoza (Bogota, Colombia) crossed a ball to the top of the box, where Eckenrode received, turned and fired past Eagles goalkeeper Adam Glick. Eckenrode was playing in his first home match since the season opener August 27 against Florida Tech, in which he had two assists.
The Eagles, receiving votes in this week's NSCAA coaches Top 25 poll and ranked 25th by online publication Goal.com, needed just 3:07 after halftime to record the equalizer. A Stetson foul in the 49th minute allowed Deion Jones to uncork a 30-yard blast on the re-start over the Stetson wall and sophomore goalkeeper Andreas Schnabl (Blaichach, Germany) and just under the crossbar.
FGCU scored what proved to be the game-winner in the 64th minute as a defensive miscue created a breakaway opportunity for William Morse of the Eagles. He ripped another long range shot into the lower right corner of the goal for the 2-1 advantage. Nick Patterson, who had entered the game mere minutes earlier, notched an insurance goal with six minutes left in the contest, driving a Josey Portillo service past a charging Schnabl on an odd-man rush.
The Hatters out-shot the Eagles 20-18 in the contest, but Glick made nine saves to blunt a determined Stetson attack. Schnabl stopped five shots for the Hatters.
Stetson is off until hosting A-Sun rival Mercer at 7:00 pm Sunday, October 9. Live Stats and Hatter Vision will be available at GoHatters.com.
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