JACKSONVILLE, Fl. – Stetson Men's soccer earned its way back to the top of the ASUN Conference standing by defeating North Florida, 2-0, Saturday night at Hodges Stadium. The Hatters are a perfect 2-0-0 in ASUN play with a 3-1-3 overall record.

"Going out on the road and getting a win is always going to be critical," head coach Emmett Rutkowski said "You've got to get three points on the road at some point. I couldn't be more proud of the group for how we came out. UNF is coached well, they were tough to break down and really dangerous on set pieces but unlucky on scoring a goal. We watched them a lot this season and had a good leg up on them. I think the biggest positive is we're missing three or four guys that have been almost in our starting lineup and you have new guys stepping up every game for us. Tonight Andres Mata came in to press for the [first] goal. Tavon [Mussenden] has responded tremendously. Jayden [Gonsalves] is starting to come into form and mature. I couldn't be happier with the group and young guys. The biggest thing to bring it together is Owen Jack and Gio Rodriguez, two of your seniors putting it together."

After a back-and-forth start with both teams making opportunities in the run of play, the Ospreys subbed at the 27:20 mark with Stetson countering with four subs in the 32nd minute. The move paid immediate dividends with as freshman midfielder Andres Mata collecting a turnover for North Florida, and playing in junior midfielder Gio Rodriguez who pocketed his second goal of the season, 1-0 to Hatters.

The score held through halftime with Stetson immediately grabbing its second goal. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Colton Myers throw in found redshirt sophomore forward Luis Lara Delgado. Delgado found Rodriguez who finished his second goal, earning a brace in the game, and putting SU up 2-nil in the 48th minute.

"There was a team effort behind the goals [tonight] and we've been for that," Rodriguez said about the goal "As my senior season, I knew I had to step up and the team effort really inspired those two goals."

The Hatters defense absorbed the incoming attacks and redshirt junior goalkeeper Owen Jack collected another clean sheet to go along with three saves.

"Really once everything clicks defensively, we have the quality offensively, and something just clicked [tonight] and that was it." Rodriguez said about the total team defense.

"I think we were very organized during our press," junior midfielder Alessandro Gabbani said "We preferred the game be played against our organized defense. I think everyone was on the same page. We were able to press and not let them play. It was a team effort today, everyone put in a good effort."

Stetson men's soccer takes on Central Arkansas next Saturday at the ATC with Kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.