MIAMI GARDENS, Fla- The STU men's soccer team took on cross street rivals Florida Memorial University Tuesday afternoon at Bobcat Field. STU won the match 2-1 after two clutch goals from Edwin Meza.  STU came to the match with a 0-4 record and was seeking its first win of the season. FMU came in with a 2-2 record and was looking to get some momentum going against a heated rival.

The beginning of the first half was a tightly contested game with two quick fouls being called on STU's Andres Ruiz setting the tone. Later in the 14^th minute FMU would threaten with a shot on goal by Marcelo Barbosa that was emphatically denied by STU goalkeeper Adam Green.

The first breakthrough of the match for STU would come shortly after in the 15^th minute with a goal from Edwin Meza off of an assist from Eran Belo. “Belo played the ball through and I was right there to push it in” Meza said.

The match would be a testy affair as many fouls were committed in the match and a yellow card was shown to FMU's Ignacio Brown in an attempt to calm things down.

STU would threaten again in the 31^st minute with a shot on goal by freshman Orlando Lawrence that was saved by goalkeeper Anthony Olischard.

The second half would be equally as rough as many more fouls were committed and yellow cards were handed in the process.  The two sides would continue to battle hard trading shots on goal as Green and Olischard would perform valiantly for their respective teams making save after save.

The equalizer for FMU would come in the 67^th minute when Pablo Garcia would score off of an assist from Jonathas Pires, denying Green the first clean sheet of his young career. STU would battle back and in the 71^st minute Edwin Meza would score his second goal of the match, this time off a Mario Mata free kick.  Mata played a dangerous curling ball with his left foot into the six yard box.  “The ball just came to me and I lost my defender and the ball just bounced in the net.” Meza said.

Coach Felix Mats was pleased with his team's performance after the game. “We got off to a bit of a slow start but this win showed me that if we tweak some things, it tells me that we can win some games and that's important for the boys.” Coach Mats said.

He was also pleased with defender Aaron Benttrinder's performance after the game.” He is a senior and you can see that, he brings leadership” Mats added.  

“We were missing some leadership and experience back there” Benttrinder said “but I [have] that and I gave us what we needed.”