PREVIEW: 2025 SSC Men’s Soccer Tournament Semifinals
On Thursday, #1 Palm Beach Atlantic will take on #4 Rollins and #2 Lynn will host #3 Florida Tech
Phil Wood | Sunshine State Conference
ORLANDO, Fla. - [MSOC Tournament Page] - The first round of the SSC Tournament is in the books. All four higher seeds advanced after two overtime games and one double-overtime match. Both games will be played on Thursday at 6 p.m. with #1 Palm Beach Atlantic hosting #4 Rollins on Thursday at 6 p.m. and #2 Lynn hosting #3 Florida Tech.
Watch both games on the SSC Digital Network.
CAN THE SAILFISH STAY UNDEFEATED AGAINST CONFERENCE TEAMS?
The top-ranked Sailfish rolled through conference play, finishing with a record of 8-0-2 and an overall record of 13-1-2. However, it wasn't easy for them to advance past #8 Florida Southern, as it took two overtimes and a 105th-minute goal from Tin Vastic to advance to the semifinals. The Sailfish finished their quarterfinal game with 13 shots, while Marko Borovic recorded an assist and Flavio Giannini tallied four saves [Box Score].
The Tars also played beyond regulation, after ending the first 90 minutes tied 1-1 with #5 Nova Southeastern. The Sharks' Hoyos Lopez started the scoring less than three minutes into the game, but the Tars' Pablo Herrero answered right before halftime with a goal of his own. After a scoreless second half, Zico Groenveld netted the game-winner off passes from Finlay Prain and Jaden Splunge to help Rollins advance to the semifinals [Box Score].
THIS SEASON...
On November 1st, Palm Beach Atlantic and Rollins tied 1-1 in West Palm Beach. Jordan Proulx gave the Tars a 1-0 lead early in the first half off a pass from Yousef Shakweer. The Tars held the lead until the 89th minute when Juan Hermoso netted the equalizer off passes from Borovic and Giannini [Box Score].
CAN THE FIGHTING KNIGHTS COMPLETE THE SEASON SWEEP OF THE PANTHERS?
The Fighting Knights were the only advancing team that didn't need overtime to move on to the semifinals, as they defeated #7 Saint Leo 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Saint Leo's Anel Rojas got the scoring started in the 72nd minute, off passes from Yuto Komine and Jorge Perez. Lynn answered less than 10 minutes later when Martijn Smith scored on a penalty kick. Less than seven minutes later, Smith found the back of the net off a pass from Thiago De Carvalho. Smith completed a hat-trick 17 seconds later, when he scored on his second penalty kick of the game [Box Score].
Florida Tech outshot Barry 25-11, and the Panthers put 11 shots on target compared to just five for the Buccaneers. However, it was Barry who scored first, when Santiago Montoya found the back of the net off a pass from Julien Laborde just over eight minutes into the game. Caio de Amorim de Deus knotted the game at 1-1 on a penalty kick in the 56th minute. Then, Jacopo De Collibus found Antonio Di Gaudio for the game-winning goal in overtime [Box Score].
THIS SEASON...
When these two teams met on October 29th, Lynn won 2-1. Robin Muenst scored the first goal of the game, then assisted on Marc Ehmann's game-winner, after Di Gaudio had tied the game at 1-1 early in the second half [Box Score].