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Panthers Knock off Sharks in Men’s Soccer



The Florida Tech Panthers traveled to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, for a showdown with the Nova Southeastern Sharks. It was a tightly contested match throughout, but the Panthers prevailed 3-1, notching their 11th consecutive victory over the Sharks in Sunshine State Conference play. 

Florida Tech (5-1, 2-0 SSC) kept Sharks’ goalie Nico Rosiglioni busy in the first half, but he deserves a lot of credit, as he kept his team in the game. The Panthers got an early chance when Luca Campanini got Rosiglioni out of the net and had a golden opportunity, only to have Lucas Dessoliers layout and give up his body, to stop the ball from going in. 

Shortly thereafter, the Panthers got behind the defense and had a 3-on-1. Brandon Smalley found Per Henrik Nag with a nice pass, but he banged it off the post, keeping the game scoreless, with 28:41 gone by. Rosiglioni came up big again later in the contest, making a point-blank Save on Smalley with 12 and a half minutes left. 

Nag and Smalley would hook up again a couple minutes later, as Smalley rifled a corner kick in and after Rosiglioni made the initial save, Nag was there to bang home the rebound and give the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 11:52 to go in the first half. The assist went to Stian Hagboe Olsen. For Nag, it was his third goal of the season. 

The Panthers took that lead into the locker room. They had nine shots in the first half, six were on net. FIT goalie Christopher Page had to make one save, with the Sharks firing five total shots. 

NSU (2-3, 0-1 SSC) tied things up just 3:06 into the second half, as Darwin Lom beat Page for his second goal of the 2017 campaign.  

At the 58:53 mark, the Panthers took the lead on a goal by Campanini. Initially, at least in the view of Nova Southeastern, Rosiglioni made the save after being interfered with. No call was made and Campanini put the ball in, giving the Panthers a 2-1 lead. The Sharks coaching staff pleaded their case, but the call did not change. Smalley was credited with the assist on the eventual game-winner. 

Florida Tech dodged a bullet with about 22 minutes left, when Page was called for a dropped kick, giving the Sharks a great chance. They weren’t able to take advantage, as the shot went high and wide. The home team kept fighting, getting a couple more chances, but never found the equalizer. 

Things got a bit chippy with 8:56 left to go in the game, as Fabian Egbele and Ignacio Goya were involved in some pushing and shoving, but the referee decided that issuing yellow cards to each would be enough, and it was. 
With one second left and Rosiglioni pulled, the Panthers sent a long ball downfield to kill the clock and Solomon Wheatley was there to tap the ball in, giving the Panthers the 3-1 victory. 


The Panthers return home Friday night, to take on the Saint Leo Lions in a Sunshine State Conference match. Things will get underway at 7:00 p.m. 

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