Men's
Soccer Season Review - Fall
2003
The
Saints, who returned 15 players,
began the season by hosting
a tournament with FSC opponent
St. Thomas University and
two NAIA top 25 teams: Mid
Continent and Thomas University.
Beating Mid-Continent in
the first game set the tone
for the season for the saints.
Mid-Continent knocked Flagler
out in the first round of
the National tournament a
year earlier. This win was
the start of a six-game winning
streak including three FSC
teams: Warner Southern, St.
Thomas in overtime, and Webber.
The
Saints suffered their first
loss of the season to a strong
NCAA Division II nationally
ranked Rollins College, 4 – 3.
Flagler led 3 – 2
with fewer than 15 minutes
left but couldn't hold on
to the victory on the road.
Flagler senior forwards
Steven Nyarady and Zoltan
Ferencz led the way for
the Saints combining for
three goals and three assists.
Flagler
bounced back with a come-from-behind
win at Warner
Southern College,
sparked by senior
defender Jeremy
Gleason's goal
minutes into
the second half.
Then a thrilling,
hard-fought victory
over NCAA Division
I Stetson University,
5 – 4,
let everyone
know that Flagler
was back.
The
next two games proved to
be a low point for the Saints,
losing back-to-back games
to Embry-Riddle and Baker
University, two NAIA top
25 teams. This would be the
only time Flagler lost two
games in a row all season.
The
Saints showed great character
winning their next game in
the scorching heat in West
Palm Beach beating Northwood
in a tight game. Senior midfielder
Helgi Frimannsson gave the
Saints a one-goal lead with
30 minutes to go in the game
to secure the tough win on
the road.
Flagler
then won two games and tied
two games to go into their
last game of the regular
season. A miscommunication
at the back cost the Saints
the game giving Northwood
forward Nicolas Bedasse an
easy goal. The Saints finished
the regular season 11-4-2
and headed into the conference
tournament seeded third out
of four teams.
As
the host of the tournament,
Flagler was confident going
in that they could repeat
as Region IX champions. The
Saints faced a tough St.
Thomas team in the semifinals.
Although the Bobcats scored
first, Flagler bounced back
just 10 minutes later with
a brilliant free kick just
outside the box by Frimannsson.
He would prove to be the
hero once again scoring on
a right-footed strike just
three minutes into overtime
to send the Saints to the
final to meet a solid Embry-Riddle
team.
Usually
an even match, the Eagles
brought their A game and
ran away with the game, winning
5 – 0.
The game was closer than
the score reflects as the
Saints hung around with some
great chances to score,
but the Eagles defense came
up big with two goal-line
clearances that could have
changed the game.
The
Saints finished the season
disappointed not to return
to the national tournament
for the second time, but
overall the season was very
successful. Flagler finished
with a respectable 12-5-2
record and 15th in the country
in the NAIA men’s
soccer final rating.
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