Sophomore Adam O’Neill’s penalty kick halfway through the second overtime boosted the University of North Florida to a 3-2 win over former conference foe Gardner-Webb on Sunday in the Osprey men’s soccer home opener.
UNF (1-2-0) carried a 2-0 lead into the final 30 minutes of regulation, but Gardner-Webb (0-4-0) battled back, finding the back of the net twice in less than 20 minutes to force extra time.
“I feel like we had control until the 67th minute, and then we lost our concentration,” Bunch said. “It is important that we play the full 90 minutes. The goals we have allowed this season have been, for the most part, a result of our mistakes.”
UNF outshot the Bulldogs 7-3 in the first half, but Gardner-Webb nearly doubled the Ospreys’ shot total in the second period, tallying an 11-6 edge. In the extra periods, UNF blasted four shots, compared to one by GWU.
“We really seemed to control the overtimes,” Bunch said. “They seemed content to be tied and just go to overtime after they tied it in regulation.”
UNF sophomore Akil DeFreitas opened the game’s scoring in the 26th minute when he dribbled down the right side of the field and netted a shot from about 10 yards. Senior Mikhail Awai increased the Osprey lead on a beautiful volley off a corner kick just over 10 minutes into the second half. O’Neill kicked from the right corner and freshman Theo Fulger won the header, setting up Awai’s volley.
“We finally attacked a corner kick well,” Bunch said. “We have been defending them well, and this time we showed some aggressiveness on the offensive side of one. It was a great header by Theo (Fulger) and a great and extremely difficult shot by Mikhail (Awai).”
Gardner-Webb’s Richard Gray pulled the Bulldogs to within one goal in the 67th minute before Jesse Rodriquez evened the score in the 85th minute and forced overtime.
After 15 minutes of scoreless overtimes, sophomore Akil DeFreitas slipped past the Bulldog defenders into the box and looked at a one-on-one opportunity against the GWU keeper, but was pulled down from behind. The foul inside the box resulted in a penalty kick for UNF, which was taken by O’Neill.
“Awai is normally our penalty kick taker, but he was resting,” Bunch said. “Adam (O’Neill) did a fantastic job stepping up and making a big play.”
The Ospreys will look for their first road win of the season on Sept. 12 when they face Evansville at the Evansville ProRehab Classic in Evansville, Ind. UNF’s play in the tournament continues on Sept. 14 against Bradley, which made an appearance in the NCAA Elite 8 last season. The Ospreys make their next appearance at Hodges Stadium on Sept. 20 against Flagler.