BOCA RATON, Fla. – Still feeling the residual effects of Hurricane Sandy with sustained winds of 30 miles per hour, Lynn University's fourth-ranked men's soccer team could not hold on to a second-half lead, falling 2-1 to Florida Tech on Saturday. Michael Kutscher scored the lone goal as the Fighting Knights drop to 14-3-0 overall.
Playing into the wind the opening half, LU used a defensive strategy and headed to the locker room tied 0-0 with the Panthers (10-3-3). The Blue & White went on the offensive and finally broke through in the 72nd minute.
Collecting a loose ball, Michael Kutscher ran past his defender and cut back toward the middle of the field. The Ebersbach, Germany, native then ripped a shot towards the left post and watched as the ball deflected of a Panthers' defenders head and into the left side-netting for the goal.
Playing a man down, FIT did not give up and took advantage of two LU defensive gaffes to find the back of the net twice. The first Florida Tech goal came in the 77th minute off a failed clearance while the game-winner in the 85th minute by Antoine Aupiais occurred after a loose ball inside the six-yard box was not sent away.
Lynn held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks but Florida Tech outshot LU 9-7. Both FIT's Brentton Muhammad and Lynn's Matt DiCerbo each recorded a save.
The Fighting Knights claimed the 2012 Sunshine State Conference regular season title and have earned the top-seed in the SSC Championship, which will be held Fri-Sun, November 2-4, on the campus of Lynn University. Check back to LynnFightingKnights.com for more information.
