Men's soccer team posts win over Daytona State on the road

The Eastern Florida State College men's soccer team opened the Region 8 Conference season with a victory on the road Tuesday night.

The eighth-ranked Titans defeated No. 12 Daytona State College 3-2 to improve to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

"It wasn't the prettiest game of soccer but none of these games ever are, there were some really good spots from both teams, they are hard to beat," Eastern Florida State College men's soccer coach Adam Butler said. "That is the first time we have excelled in a difficult environment, first time we have conceded first and come back, so we have done something right in terms of the mentality."

The first half was a physical one as the game was scoreless until Daytona State College scored on a free kick with 14 minutes left in the half. Carlos Zambrano scored the goal to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

But it would not last long as the Titans earned a free kick outside the box with 11 minutes and 24 seconds left in the half. Pedro Amancio hit a perfect shot to tie the game. It was Amancio's second goal of the season.

"Pedro's free kick was incredible, he had been curling them all week in practice and we talked about hitting it a bit harder so I will take the assist on that one," Butler joked.

It would remain tied until halftime.

It would not take long for the Titans to find the back of the net in the second half as Amancio hit a free kick into the box and Christoph Steinleitner slipped it past the keeper to give the Titans a 2-1 lead a little over a minute into the second half.

Up 2-1, Daytona State College had a couple of good chances to tie it up but the defense held them at bay with goalkeeper Kodai Tsuzuki made some nice saves.

The Titans would make it 3-1 with under five minutes left as Siphesilhe Maseko took a pass and put it in. This time it was Daytona State who responded, making it 3-2 with 3:51 left and the Titans would hold on to win the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

Daytona State College falls to 3-2-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The two teams will meet at Orlando Health Stadium on Oct. 21.

Eastern Florida State College will be back at Orlando Health Stadium on Saturday night, hosting Johnson University at 6 p.m.