DeLAND—Stetson and Eastern Florida State battled to a 1-1 draw in the first exhibition game of the season for both teams, Sunday at the Athletic Training Center.
With just five days of practice under their belts, the Hatters used several different lineups against the Titans of the NJCAA. Stetson head coach Ernie Yarborough was happy with the effort.
“I thought we did a lot of things well,” said Yarborough. “As a group, collectively, the first 30-40 minutes were very good. That's what we really focused on. I thought we controlled that pretty well. There's a lot to work with going forward.”
Yarborough was also pleased with the play of his newcomers, who got their first taste of college soccer on Sunday.
“We have nine newcomers and were able to play six or seven across the course of the game,” said Yarborough. “To see some of them perform in a game is nice because them you have something to compare them to with the rest of the guys. It's important to play these games early in the preseason to be able to play a lot of guys for evaluation and development.”
Stetson senior Lucas Diniz scored the game's first goal, finding the back of the net on a penalty kick in the seventh minute.
Eastern Florida scored the equalizer in the 26th minute when Joshua Donnelly took a feed from Yannick Koffi and beat Stetson keeper Paul Ladwig.
Stetson had several scoring opportunities in the first half, and had a goal waved off due to off-sides. Neither team mounted much of a scoring threat in the second half.
Ladwig split time on goal with Peter Nyong'o as the duo combined to make three saves.
The Hatters play the second of their three scheduled exhibition games when they visit USF, 7 p.m., Tuesday.
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