Stetson Dominates Hawks in Day One of Classic

9/18/09

DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson men's soccer team defeated Saint Joseph's University 4-0 Friday night in the first day of the Stetson Soccer Classic. It was a dominating performance for the Hatters who finished with a 22-2 advantage in shots. With the win Stetson improved to a perfect 4-0-0 on the season while St. Joe's dropped to 0-6-0.

Stetson goalkeeper Logan Potter (Merritt Island, Fla.) and the Stetson defense registered their second consecutive shutout and third of the season. Potter's goals against average is now an impressive 0.50 in 2009.

Freshman Jonathan Mendoza (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) started the scoring with the only goal of the first half at 20:40. Junior Giulio D'Amore (DeLand, Fla.) found senior Set Carpintero (Orlando, Fla.) who then made a nifty pass to get the ball to Mendoza 20 yards out in the middle of the box. Mendoza blasted a low shot past St. Joe's goalkeeper Andrew D'Ottavi (Petersburg, N.J.) and into the center of the goal.

"We controlled the ball, though it would have been nice to put away some more of those early chances", said Stetson Head Coach T. Logan Fleck.

Stetson had 13 shots and three corner kicks in the first half.

Coming out of the break it took the Hatters about ten minutes to turn up the heat on the Hawks. In the 57th minute Gonzalo de Mujica (Weston, Fla.) gained control of the ball, spun around and delivered a perfect pass to Fredrik Brustad (Oslo, Norway) deep down the right flank. Brustad charged the net from the right side and ripped a low shot just inside the far post for his first goal of the season.

Less than three minutes later the relentless Hatters struck again. Mendoza returned the favor when he delivered a through ball to Carpintero who made a run up the middle and scored on a left-footer to the center of the net.

de Mujica completed the night's scoring at 77:53 when he ripped a free kick over a wall of Hawks and into the top of the goal. It was his first goal of the season. de Mujica also picked up his first assist of the season in the game.

"Gonzo and Giulio played very well tonight. They controlled the middle of the field with good passing and good decision making", said Fleck. "Our play tonight allowed us to get some of our younger guys some playing time."

Sunday on day two of the Stetson Soccer Challenge the Hatters will take on Hofstra at 1:00 p.m. Jacksonville will play St. Joe's just prior at 11:00 a.m. In tonight's first game Hofstra defeated JU 3-1.

"Hofstra is a good team", said Fleck. "We will have to show up to play to avoid a Sunday letdown."