Men's soccer team wins semifinal, plays for national tourney berth Saturday
The Eastern Florida State College men's soccer team won its ninth straight game, sending the Titans to the Southeast District Championship game Saturday afternoon in Louisburg, North Carolina.
The No. 6-ranked Titans defeated Richard Bland 2-1 in a physical, hard-fought second semifinal to advance to the championship game for the third straight year.
"When you get to the knockout stages it is really about getting the results and we grinded out this result, battled, went down to 10 men and did everything we could to protect the penalty box and in the end we defended well and advanced," Eastern Florida State College men's soccer coach Oliver Twelvetrees said.
Sophomore Danilo Orsi Dadomo put the Titans on the board 12 minutes into the game, settling a cross and putting it into the back of the net from the left side.
The defense was up to the challenge early, keeping Richard Bland out of the box for much of the first half, but two minutes into the second half Richard Bland would find the equalizer.
The Titans would respond six minutes later as Alex Alexis took a shot that deflected off a defender and right to Orsi Dadomo, who put it in for his 19th goal of the season.
"It was massive, especially the timing of it," Orsi Dadomo said of his second goal. "We had to stop the momentum they built from tying it up and I think the boys showed great heart and character out there today and now we are advancing to the final. It is hard to play twice in two days, we have to start again from scratch and every game is a final now and we have to take it like that."
A straight red card put the Titans down a player but the defense held on to post the victory and play host Louisburg who beat Georgia Military 1-0 in the other semifinal.
"The boys need they need to play better and we need to go again tomorrow and perform better," Twelvetrees said. "We have had some great battles with Louisburg over the years, they are a fantastic team and I thought they were impressive today. They will be a tough matchup."
The Titans beat Louisburg 1-0 in 2013 and lost to them 1-0 in 2014. The final will kick off at noon with the winner advancing to the NJCAA Division I National Championship tournament in Prescott, Arizona.
