MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (October 1, 2022) - Saturday night lights was the perfect way to spotlight the top-20 showdown on AutoNation Field featuring the no. 4 St. Thomas University (STU) Men's Soccer team (4-0-1, 1-0 SUN) against no. 16 Florida National University (7-0-1). The match had everything but a goal as the teams finished regulation in a scoreless tie.

This would be the first time of the season for both teams as they keep their undefeated season going.

Both teams came out the gate on the attack with aggressive offenses. Fernando Arzeno was inches away from a header that would have put STU up in the early minutes of the contest. Florida National keeper had a busy night and held his own as Ruiz shutdown an electric Bobcat offense.

The stats could not reflect the defensive efforts shown by the Conquistador keeper and Bobcats captain Juan Manuel Collazo. Florida National had 10 set piece opportunities in the first half with a mix of seven free kicks and three corner kicks. None of which found the back of the net because of the big stops from Collazo, who would use every body part to deny the Conquistador attack and would even retain possession on most attempts. 

Franco Acerbi continues to have a great season extending his shutout streak to five matches. Acerbi tested more than average in the match held his own in the net coming up with a big save in the second half that saw FNU get a cross through into the box and a quick shot in the lower left cover had Acerbi in a full length dive to deny the goal.

The Bobcats had two more promising opportunities in the second half, one coming off the foot of Guido Cacciabue who placed the perfect free kick in the box, the header from Mark Oghogho was just too high. The second opportunity came with 17 minutes left on the clock as a FNU defender picked up their second yellow card causing an automatic red and ejection from the match.

Even with the man down, FNU prevailed in a tough spot that saw a quick momentum switch to STU with a shining light in front of them. The Conquistador keeper though would continue to make big plays and Arzeno and Facundo Cisterna came up inches short on back to back shots.

St. Thomas defense would be a big key in creating offense playing the ball up into space and also holding a strong line in high tested situations.

As the clock winded down, Hernando Suárez had one last shot on a free kick but came up just short in getting it in the box with too much spin. 

St. Thomas will now return focus to Sun Conference action on Wednesday traveling to Ave Maria and then hosting (RV) Southeastern on Saturday on AutoNation Field.

-STU-