PREVIEW: 2022 SSC Men’s Soccer Tournament Semifinals
On Thursday, #1 Barry will take on #5 Nova Southeastern and #2 Florida Tech will host #6 Tampa
By: Phil Wood | Sunshine State Conference
MELBOURNE, Fla. - [MSOC Tournament Page] - The first round of the SSC Tournament featured two road teams pulling upsets to advance to the semifinals. #5 Nova Southeastern went to Rollins and defeated the Tars 1-0 to earn a spot against #1 Barry. Tampa traveled to Lynn and defeated the Fighting Knights 2-0 to advance to take on #2 Florida Tech.
Nova Southeastern and Barry will meet on Thursday, November 3, at 6 p.m. Tampa and Florida Tech will play in Melbourne on Thursday, November 3, at 7 p.m.
Watch both games on the SSC Digital Network.
CAN THE SHARKS UPSET BARRY TO MAKE THEIR SECOND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN A ROW?
Last season as the #4 seed, the Sharks won three SSC Tournament games in a row to win their first conference title and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. In the postseason, they managed to make it all the way to the Final Four, where they lost to Cal State - Los Angeles in penalty kicks.
They are looking for a similarly magical run this season after managing seven points in their final three games of the regular season to sneak into the SSC Tournament as the #5 seed. To advance past the Tars in the opening round, Nick Brisevac scored his fifth goal of the season in the 43rd minute. Goalkeeper Eduardo D'Avino turned away all three shots on goal to secure the victory [Box Score].
Barry earned the first-round bye after finishing the regular season 6-1-3 in conference play. They earned their fifth regular season conference championship in school history behind a strong season-long offensive performance headlined by David Polanco. Polanco has scored eight of the Bucs' 35 goals this season. As a team, they averaged 2.5 goals per game, tied for the most per game with Florida Southern.
At 9-2-3 overall, the Bucs were ranked #2 in the latest NCAA Division II Super-Region 2 rankings. In the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, they were ranked #5 in the nation.
THIS SEASON...
These two teams met at Nova Southeastern on October 12. The Bucs were able to pull out the 3-2 victory behind two goals from Polanco and one from Timo Wirth. [Box Score].
CAN TAMPA HAND FLORIDA TECH THEIR FIRST LOSS OF THE SEASON?
The Florida Tech Panthers made it through the entire regular season without suffering a single loss in 14 games. They finished with a record of 8-0-6 and were 5-0-5 in conference play. They missed the top overall seed and a conference regular season title by just one point. They are currently ranked #1 in the NCAA Division II Super-Region 2 rankings, and they are #9 nationally in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll.
The Panthers achieved their record thanks in large part to strong defensive play. The Panthers finished just ninth in the SSC in total goals scored, and they were sixth in the conference in goals per game with 1.643. However, they allowed just 11 goals all season, an average of .79 per game, an average that ranks in the top 20 in the nation.
Tampa, the defending co-champions of the SSC regular season, just barely snuck into the SSC Tournament this year. They finished the regular season with a conference record of 4-3-3, which put them one point ahead of seventh-place Palm Beach Atlantic in the final standings.
Despite being the sixth seed, they pulled the 2-0 upset over Lynn behind two goals from Juancho Fernandez. Both were assisted by Omar Thali [Box Score]. Fernandez is the leading shot taker in the SSC, compiling a total of 68 this season for an average of 4.86 per game. He is tied for eighth in the conference in total goals, and he is tied with Thali with five assists on the year.
THIS SEASON...
When these two teams met on October 25, they played to a 1-1 draw in Tampa. In that game, Sean Quinn scored off an assist from Nico Gamio to give the Spartans the lead in the 31st minute. Julen Lefuente would tie the game for the Panthers in the 59th minute when he sent a penalty kick into the back of the net.