After their fifth loss in a row, this one to Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday, the University of North Florida men’s soccer program is in a challenging spot. Since tying with Florida Atlantic University 1-1 on Sep. 12, were practically allergic to the goal, managing to hit only one in the last four until scoring during Saturday night’s game.
Now, the Ospreys face down a less than desirable 1-2-3 record at Hodges Stadium after suffering a pair of ties and losses.
The team isn’t faring well in the ASUN standings either, with an 0-2-1 record in the conference as of Saturday night places them in the seventh spot. It’s an unfavorable spot to be in as only the top six programs are selected to play in the conference tournament at the end of the season.
Scoring has been a glaring issue. The Ospreys failed to score more than one goal per game in the five match stretch since Sep. 12. In total, they’ve scored three goals, two of which were courtesy of Luc Granitur.
A cause for the lack of productivity may be a lack of shots taken compared to the teams they’ve played against. The Ospreys have only 98 total shot attempts, with a 38-98 shot on goal differential. Significantly lower than the 137 shots and 48-137 shot on goal differential averaged by opponents this season.
Fouls have plagued the Ospreys all season-long. The team has 131 so far, 21 more than the 110 average of the opponents they’ve faced at this point.
However, something head coach Derek Marinatos and crew have done very well is keeping opponents out of the net. The team has managed to keep competitors to only one goal in four of the last five games. Though, that streak was broken in Saturday’s matchup against Florida Gulf Coast when the Eagles scored twice.
“My disappointment after the goal is we kind of had to sit in and guys started dropping off and we got off our game that we were playing.” Marinatos said following the team’s tie versus FAU on Sep. 12. “I think when we were patient with the ball and didn’t turn it over we were able to break them down and find soft pockets and create open lanes wide.”
Marinatos’ comments stayed true for the following four games, exemplified by allowing 25 corner kicks compared to the Ospreys’ 20, a large differential as each corner kick is a shot on the goal.
North Florida will hope to end this streak against the number one team in the conference on Saturday as the team is scheduled to play against the Lipscomb University Bison at Hodges Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
More information on the men’s soccer program as well as all other Osprey sports can be found at the UNF Athletics website.
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