JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men’s soccer team fell behind 1-0 in the first half, but used a pair of second half goals to claim a 2-1 victory over across-town and conference rival Jacksonville on Saturday night at the Ashley Sports Complex.
The match was the second event of the SunTrust River City Rumble between the two schools. With the win, the Ospreys pulled even in the Rumble standings at 1-1.
The victory also returned the Dennis Viollet Cup back to UNF. The Viollet Cup is awarded the winner of the North Florida vs. Jacksonville men’s soccer match. The competition for the Cup began in 2002 and the Ospreys evened the Cup standings to 4-4 with the win.
“We are picking it up, but we still have a long way to go,” head coach Ray Bunch stated after the match. “In the conference, we seem to be doing okay. We have beaten two of the top picks of the year. We have to keep working hard. This is a great win for us and it’s nice to win the Viollet Cup. JU played very well, and I thought we played very well.”
The Ospreys were able to overcome a one-goal deficit with two goals in the second half to improve to 2-1-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
North Florida controlled the first half with seven shots including four shots on goal. The match was back and forth with both teams missing key opportunities throughout the first half.
The Dolphins had the first opportunity to score as they attempted a shot, but it was deflected off of the goal post.
The Ospreys missed an early opportunity to take the lead as Greg Crowell’s header off of an Adam O’Neill corner kick was saved by the JU goalie.
Jacksonville was the first team to score as Nedim Hrustic took a cross from Jonathan Jackson and put it just out of reach of UNF’s goalie Jullian Beau.
Trailing 1-0, North Florida missed five crucial opportunities to tie the score before the half. Crowell headed the ball just wide off of a corner kick. A few minutes later, Crowell launched a shot from the top of the box that deflected off of a JU player.
Steven Lowenthal had an opportunity to put the Ospreys on the board but his shot from in the box was saved by the goalie. Senior Frank Dinzey had a one-on-one chance, but the Jacksonville goalkeeper once again managed to keep UNF out of the net. In the final minutes of the first half, senior Shareef Rajkumar had his shot from the left side of the box blocked, leaving the score 1-0 in favor of the hosts at intermission.
In the second half, UNF wasted little time knotting the score at 1-1. With just under five minutes off of the clock, Dinzey crossed the ball to O’Neill whose shot at point blank range was deflected by the goalie. Sophomore Peter Lauer collected the loose ball and put it in the middle of the net to tie the score at one goal each.
Jordan Allerding tried to give the Ospreys the lead, but his shot from just outside of the box was saved by Jacksonville.
The Dolphins threatened with a pair of shots in the box, but both shots were side to the right by just inches. The Ospreys countered with a shot of their own by Crowell, but like JU’s shots, the ball was inches to the right of the post.
With slightly over seven minutes to play in the match, Steven Lowenthal scored his first goal of the season to put the Ospreys ahead. Shareef Rajkumar crossed the ball from the left side and placed it right in the middle of the box for Lowenthal.
North Florida was able to keep the Dolphins offensive attack out of the goal and came away with the victory.
The University of North Florida returns to action on Friday, Oct. 16, as they head to Nashville, Tenn. for a match against Lipscomb at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 18, the Ospreys will remain in Nashville for a match at Belmont set to start at 2 p.m.