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Title Hopes Fall Short: Womens Soccer Lose 2-1 to FGCU

November 7, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

Courtesy of JU Athletics

The Jacksonville University women’s soccer team had their last game of post season play this past Friday night in Ft Myers, Fla. They lost 2-0 against number one seed FGCU in the semi-final round of the Atlantic Sun Conference playoffs.

The past four times the Dolphins played the FGCU Eagles, the game resulted in a tie, but things had to end differently this match, as one team has to move on after the match. Unfortunately, things ended in the Eagles’ favor and they will be playing Mercer in the championship match for the second consecutive year. The match started similar to the past four matches. The Dolphins and the Eagles faced off. Both teams were not able to gain a competitive edge for almost the entire game.

The Eagles only put themselves up 34 minutes into the first quarter after FGCU was awarded a penalty kick for a fowl in the box on JU’s part. JU fought hard into the second half, despite being a goal down. They were able to make eight shots on goal and keep pressure on the FGCU defense.

However, in the 66 minute, junior defender Alexandra Lee preformed a slide tackle on an FGCU player who was making a run on the goal just before the edge of the box. Lee was issued a very controversial red card and ejected from the game, causing the Dolphins to play the rest of the game a man down. This red card did not go over well with the players and the coaching staff.

Despite playing a man down, the Dolphins still played great soccer, making five corner kicks and having three more shots on goal than the first half. The closest the Dolphins came to scoring was in the 76 minute when sophomore defender Miranda Fyfe shot a little high and sent the ball off the top crossbar.

With less than five minutes in the game, the Eagles sealed their win with a counter attack, catching the Dolphins out of position. FGCU player Shannen Wacker scored her 11th goal of the season, making a shot that freshman goal keeper Jill D’Amico was not able to get her hands on.

The Dolphins finished their season with a 9-7-3 record and look forward to spring conditioning.

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Men’s Soccer Dominates UNF 5-1, Locks up Sixth and FInal Tournament Seed

November 7, 2012 By George Wahl II Leave a Comment

Photo By: Kayla Socha

The Jacksonville University men’s soccer team is playing their best soccer of the season as they round into form for the approaching Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.
The Dolphins won two of their final three matches on their way to securing the sixth and final spot in the A-Sun tournament.
The Dolphins concluded their season at cross-town rival University of North Florida with a commanding 5-1 victory. The Dolphins needed the win to jump Stetson for the final tournament seed.
The Dolphins struck first in the 15th minute when junior forward Nick Rodriguez took a pass from Matheus Saroli and scored from 12 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
Fifteen minutes later, JU doubled its lead when Saroli scored his first of two goals on the night. Saroli’s sixth goal of the season found the net from 25 yards out and made its way past the keeper.
Five minutes into the second half, UNF scored a goal of their own, making the score 2-1.
It was all Dolphins from there on out as they held the Ospreys scoreless the rest of the night.
Saroli scored his second goal of the night and seventh of the season on a penalty kick to stretch the lead back to two goals.
Rene Reyes joined the offensive party and added a goal of his own and was followed by Roshoir Elliot who netted his second goal of the season.
The Dolphins (4-12-1, 3-5-0) will face number one seed East Tennessee State in Ft. Meyers, Fla., on Nov. 7. The Dolphins fell to ETSU 2-1 in their regular season meeting as the Bucs scored the game-winning goal in the final minute of the match.

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Women’s Soccer Win in Tennessee

November 3, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

The Jacksonville University women’s soccer team won their first post season match-up this past weekend In Johnson City, Tennessee. This game was a rematch of a regular season game against Eastern Tennessee State University where the Dolphins scored a 2-1 victory.

Sopohmore forward Kaitlyn Bassett continued her on-field dominance against the Bucs during Saturday night’s game. Coming off her end-of-season scoring drive, Bassett continued the trend and scored both goals for the Dolphins.

Striking first in the 35th minute, Bassett scored on a goal after an assist from senior midfielder Emily Culbreth. The Bucs then tied the game on a penalty kick two minutes after. Both teams stayed scoreless in the second half and the game went into overtime

Both teams played hard in overtime but only seven minutes into the first half of over time, Basset was able to snag her sixth goal of the season after controlling the ball in the left side of the box and shooting over the goal tender’s head.

The JU women’s soccer team will travel to Ft. Myers, Florida this weekend and will face the number one seed, Florida Gulf Coast University. The Dolphins hope to score a win and beat the Eagles after they tied them 1-1 in regular season play.

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JU Soccer gets ready for Postseason Play

October 24, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

Ninoska Nunez

Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams had great showings over the weekend at the Ashley sports complex.

The women won both of their weekend games and are heading on to the A-Sun tournament, while the men upset A-Sun leaders Mercer.

The women started their weekend Friday night against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. Sophomore forward Kaitlyn Basset headed a ball past the Buccaneer’s goal keeper after a pass from junior forward Raquel Weckhurst. The next goal came shortly after the first when Basset passed the ball to sophomore defender Miranda Fyfe, putting the Dolphins up 2-0.

The Dolphins then continued to hold the Bucs scoreless until the last 4 minutes when Tennessee was able to snag one goal, leaving the final score 2-1.

The Dolphins then went on to dominate USC Upstate Sunday afternoon, 4-0 in their last game of the season. Basset scored the first two goals of the game after assists from senior midfield Becca Massip and Miranda Fyfe. Freshman defender Marie Weckhurst and forward Karley Bush both went on to score the Dolphin’s final two goals.

With the final regular season game behind them, the Dolphin seniors will get an extra couple of games as they start the playoffs this weekend.

The men played their first game of the weekend Thursday night in the Coaches vs. Cancer classic. Unfortunately they continued to give up a late goal in a losing effort. The Eagles scored first but 7 minutes after that, the Dolphins answered with two goals of their own.

Freshman forward Rene Reyes evened things up when he fielded a pass from sophomore midfield Justin Syzymkowiak and sent the ball soaring into the back of the net. Sophomore defender Henrik Synnes would put JU in the lead 5 minutes later, when freshman defender Scott Hill was able to head a corner kick that Synnes gained control of and fired past the Eagle keeper.

The Eagles rallied back and scored 2 minutes into the second half. Both teams played back and forth into double overtime until the Eagles were able to net a goal with five minutes remaining.

The Dolphins shook off their bad luck however, and went on to upset conference leader Mercer in a 2-1 win. JU scored first after sophomore forward Matheus Saroli took a pass from sophomore defender Ashton Pett and fired a shot into the goal. With the game dwindling down, Mercer scored in the 77 minute, but it only took 32 seconds for freshman forward Rene Reyes to sink JU’s winning goal off the faceoff.

The women’s soccer team finished their season 4-2-2 in the conference and 8-6-3 overall and travel to Ft. Myers to play first place seed FCGU in the A-Sun tournament on Nov. 2. The men (3-11-1, 2-4-0) host Lipscomb Friday at 7 p.m.

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JU Slips Up Late, Falls To North Kentucky

October 17, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

Photo by Ninoska Nunez

The Jacksonville University’s men’s soccer team fought valiantly Sunday, but to no avail, as the Northern Kentucky Norse scored a late winning goal with 10 minutes left in regulation.

The game started very well for the dolphins, getting the only goal of the first half, 23 minutes into the game. Junior midfielder, Nick Rodriguez, passed the ball to sophomore forward, Matheus Saroli, who buried the ball into the back left corner of the net, scoring his fourth goal of the season.

Jacksonville was able to keep their lead, despite being outshot in the first half. But 10 minutes into the second half, the Norse scored after Brendan Murphy received a pass from Cain McDonald to shoot past junior Goalie, Gavin Carlin.

Both team’s defenses fought very hard from start to finish but NKU’s Craig Heard was able to make his way down the sideline with the ball before firing a low shot from far outside the box, which found its target in the back of Jacksonville’s net, putting the Norse up by one point.

Despite the loss, the Dolphin defense kept playing good soccer, with a total of seven saves coming from goalie Gavin Carlin.

The JU Dolphins (2-10-1, 1-3-0 A-Sun) will host the FGCU Eagles( 5-5-2 , 2-1-1 A-Sun) this Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Ashley Sports Complex.

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JU Defeats Stetson and Fights to a Tie with FGCU.

October 10, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

Photo by Ninoska Nunez

The Lady Dolphins soccer team stayed undefeated in conference play this weekend as they took on Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast University at home. After their win on Friday against Stetson, they went on to tie conference leader FGCU for the fourth straight year running.

The Jacksonville Dolphins (6-4-3, 3-0-2 A-Sun) got up early on the Stetson Hatters Friday night, scoring their first goal of the night in the fourth minute. Junior forward Raquel Weckhurst paced the offense, accounting for two of the Dolphin’s three goals. The next goal came with four seconds to go in the half, when senior midfielder Emily Culbreth sent a pass to the middle of the box where freshman forward Ashley Poirie was able knock it past the keeper and sink it into the corner of the net.

In the closing minutes of the game, Weckhurst fielded another pass from sophomore defender Miranda Fyfe to finish off the Dolphin’s offense and gain her second goal of the night.

After a short break from Friday night’s game, The Dolphins took on the FGCU Eagles, who went into the game as number one in the Atlantic Sun conference. The Dolphins scored first when senior forward Eva Leeper was lucky enough to collect a rebounded shot and slip it past the keeper for her first goal of the season.

The Eagles however scored on a pass into the box in the 64th minute. The Eagles and Dolphins would continue to fight through until the end taking a total of five shots on the goal in overtime, compared to the Eagle’s two.

The Jacksonville Dolphins will be recovering this week in preparation to face Mercer (9-3-3, 3-0-2 A-Sun) and Kennesaw State (7-6-1, 3-1-1 A-Sun) on Friday Oct. 12 and Sunday Oct 14.

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Dolphins Settle for Tie in OT Thriller

October 2, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

By: Austin Weaver

The lights were fired up this Friday night at Hodges Stadium as two Atlantic sun giants took to the field to test their mettle against one another. Fighting not only for a conference win, but a point in the Sun Trust River City Rumble, the ladies of the Jacksonville University and UNF soccer teams left everything on the field in a grueling match that ended in a one-to-one tie after two sessions of extra time.

The Ospreys scored 60 minutes into the game when Junior Forward Carolina Lencina took a pass at the top of the box, beating a JU defender and sinking the ball into the far side net.

With 10 minutes left in regulation, JU was able to take advantage of a UNF slip up inside the box. After a short scrum, Freshman Marie Weckhurst gained control of the ball, passed it out of the mess to waiting Mid fielder Jessica Cataldo-Ramirez, who was able to sneak the ball right past the preoccupied goal keeper, tying the game up at one a piece.

The game then went into overtime, tied 1-1, and both teams fought until their last breaths.

It seemed like the Dolphins came up on top when sophomore Kaitlyn Bassett got a pass on a break away, flew down field and sunk a shot right at the goal, just over the cross bar.

“I was very pleased with the way the girls played Friday night” said JU Head Coach Brian Copham. “There were many facets that we did well in and some that still need work. This was a big game, not only because of the rivalry, but because a lot of the girls on our team grew up playing on travel teams here in Florida. Some of these girls have been playing the same group of girls for quite a while now.”

The whole team played their hearts out Friday. Goal keeper Jill D’Amico, as well as defenders Alexandra Lee and Miranda Fyfe, played extremely well keeping the UNF offense shut down for most of the game.

So far the women’s soccer team is third in the Atlantic Sun conference after this past weekend. UNF is just behind in fourth. This weekend marks a major game for the Dolphins as they take on conference leader FGCU, who have a 4-0-0 conference record. That game is slated for Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

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Men’s and Women’s Soccer

September 25, 2012 By David Borrelli Leave a Comment

After a long and arduous stretch of the season, the Jacksonville University men’s soccer team sealed their first win in dominating fashion this past Saturday.

The Dolphins entertained Georgia Southern at home and crushed the Eagles 5-0. The offense shook off the past few games and played very aggressively in the first half scoring two goals. Matheus Saroli showed some fancy footwork passing to a defender, running him out and scoring the first goal of the night. Nick Rodriguez wrapped up the first half by scoring a goal off another of the Eagle’s defenders.

Sophomore Henrik Synnes, Freshman Elliott Roshior and aforementioned Matheus Saroli all scored goals in the second half as JU shut out Georgia Southern. The men’s team is slated to travel to Hofstra and then make their way to Belmont on Saturday.

Women’s soccer opened their conference play this past Friday with a 2-1 win over Northern Kentucky.

The Women’s soccer team is looking to keep their title of Atlantic Sun champs and is off to a swift start after their victory. Freshman Marie Weckhurt put the Dolphins on the board first after an assist by Freshman forward Sarah Moghadas. After a penality kick that brought Northern Kentucky tied with the dolphins, Emily Culbreth scored a game sealing goal, assisted by Weckhurst.

The Lady Dolphins then played Lipscomb on Sunday, winning 2-1 in extra time. The Weckhurst sisters started the game with a combined goal and Kaitlyn Bassett was able to head a ball into the net for the game-winning goal.

The women’s soccer team stays undefeated in conference play as they go into a River City Rumble match this Friday at University of North Florida.

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Women’s Soccer Concludes Conference Play with a Win

September 19, 2012 By George Wahl II Leave a Comment

George Wahl

JU women’s soccer (3-4-1) concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule this past week as the Dolphins defeated the Cougars of College of Charleston 1-0.
Better late then never, freshman forward Marie Weckhurst scored her second goal of the season with two seconds to play in the first half. Weckhurst took a pass from defender Brooke Comans and fired it into the net for the score.
The Cougars looked as if they were gaining poise for a run at taking control of the game but freshman goalkeeper Hannah Allerton kept the ball out of the net and JU in the lead. Allerton, later named Atlantic Sun defensive player of the week, was making her first start of her collegiate career.
The match was even from start to finish but JU kept the edge throughout.
“I thought we did a great job tonight,” Head Coach Brian Copham said. “I was pleased with how we competed against a tough team and persevered to get a win. We played with a lot of energy that was a result of our enthusiastic crowd. Its always good to get a good win heading into conference play.”
Now that conference play is done, JU will head to Highland Heights, Kentucky to take on Atlantic Sun conference newcomer Northern Kentucky on September 21st.

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Men’s Soccer Remains Winless with Losses to FIU and Stetson

September 11, 2012 By Brianna Brown Leave a Comment

Photo by Ninoska Nunez

The Jacksonville University Dolphins (0-4-0) hosted the Florida International University Panthers (3-0-0) Sept. 2 at the Ashley Sports Complex . The Dolphins took the 1-0 loss.

The first and only goal was scored by FIU’s Patrick Ramdial. With help from teammates Lucas Di Croce and Daniel Gonzalez, the goal was scored in the 19th minute. The Dolphins continued their hard play. They attempted 16 shots on goal within the 90-minute span of the game.

JU’s next game occured when they traveled to DeLand, Fla. to take on the Stetson University Hatters (3-3-0). In an untraditionally early conference opener, JU suffered yet another loss of 2-0.

Stetson proved to be a hard test as they finished the first half leading 1-0. Stetson’s Luis Ocejo was assisted by Stevie Saballos on the goal that gave the Hatters a 2-0 lead. Together they hooked up for the final goal of the game within the first four minutes of the second half of the game. This put JU in too big of a hole with not enough time to play.

The Dolphins will have their chance at redemption when they take on the University of Central Florida this Friday at 7:30 p.m.

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