Undefeated Falcons Glide into 11th Nationally
DAYTONA BEACH- The Daytona State Men’s Soccer team are 4-0-1 on the season and ranked 11th in the most recent NJCAA polls. After a grueling two matches this past weekend the falcons come away with two wins.
Saturday, April 17th the boys faced off against a stingy Georgia Military College. This is the same Georgia Military College that tied the falcons in their season opener 0-0. The visiting Military side came to Daytona with a 2-1-1 record and ranked 4th in NJCAA D2. Despite controlling most of the match the Daytona State Falcons had trouble again in the final third.
“I think our build ups are good, our possession is good, our defending is great, but we just can’t seem to put that final ball away in the final third” said Head Coach Bart Sasnett. Midway through the first half Sophomore team leader Mohamed Ouaad (Bordj-Menaiel, Algeria) would dribble from the back beating three players only to be fouled inside the box for a PK. The team would call upon freshman Kevin Kelly (Dublin, Ireland) to convert the PK and that’s what he did. Falcon’s would hold onto the 1-0 lead and defeat the visiting bulldogs. Sasnett says “I’m happy for the guys! They played hard and with honor for the falcon shield. It was a televised game and electricity was in the air. It was a great FALCON WIN”.
On day two, Sunday April 18th, a beat-up and tired falcon squad would take the field against a fresh-legged undefeated 3-0 Andrew College squad. The Daytona vs Georgia foes weekend did not disappoint. Andrew College came out pumped up and intense. From the time the whistle blew the tigers from Andrew would work diligently to knock off national powerhouse Daytona. But Daytona is a seasoned team with a veteran coach who knows how to play with heavy legs. Earlier in the season the falcons beat Louisburg College 3-0, then ranked #1 in the country NJCAA D2 having played less than 24 hours before.
Despite outshooting Andrew 33-2 the Falcons could only muster up three goals. But they were three great goals.
Goal 1 - 6’3 center back Prince Nwabudike (London, England) would score on a corner kick from leading assist man Santiago Fonseca (Toronto, Canada)
Goal 2 - Freshman from Tokyo, Japan Taichi Inoue would score a perfectly placed ball to the corner from a cross from left back freshman Schinieder, Mimy (Miami, FL)
Goal 3 - Another top prospect from Japan Yutaro Tsukada would send a whipping ball to local standout and High School Florida player of the year Vander Rocha (Lake Mary, FL via Brazil)
Coach Bart commented, “Credit the goalkeeper for Andrew College as he made some amazing saves and kept his team in it. I think Coach Taylor Jones has constructed a fine team. It is the best Andrew team I have seen in a long time. His team is well disciplined and plays with passion. He is a great Coach!”
We will look to build off the weekend of success. Our program has yet to play its best bit of soccer so exciting times are ahead. The Falcon’s will face NCAA Division 2 powerhouse University of Tampa for a scrimmage Wednesday, April 21st @ 5:00pm.
