Florida Tech Women’s Soccer Defeats Eckerd 4-0, Panthers to Host SSC Tournament Championship

panthers will compete in the SSC Championship on Nov. 12

The No. 17 Florida Tech women’s soccer team secured its spot in the Sunshine State Conference Championship match with a 4-0 shutout win over Eckerd in the semifinal round on Thursday night at Rick Stottler Field. (Florida Tech image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – The No. 17 Florida Tech women’s soccer team secured its spot in the Sunshine State Conference Championship match with a 4-0 shutout win over Eckerd in the semifinal round on Thursday night at Rick Stottler Field.

Marem Ndiongue got things started for the Panthers in just the eighth minute of the match after a pass from Halla Helgadottir set her up in the box. Her shot found the back of the net to give Tech an early 1-0 advantage.

The Panthers continued to send a barrage of shots towards the Tritons’ net. In the 23rd minute, Lauryn Wood saw an opportunity to steal the ball from Eckerd’s keeper and knock the ball into the goal to make it a 2-0 match.

After the Tritons got their first shot off in the 27th minute, Tech moved down the field, and this time Josefine Nilsen found Ndiongue streaking in the box who smashed her shot into the net to make it 3-0 in just the 33rd minute.

In the 40th minute, Sara Batchadji looked to make it a four-goal match, but her shot banged off the left post and the teams went into halftime with a score of 3-0.

After some back and forth to begin the second half, Wood worked her way into the box off a perfect pass from Ndiongue and notched her second score of the day to extend the Panthers’ lead out to 4-0 in the 60th minute.

The Tritons threatened to get one back in the 68th minute, but Panther keeper Ayana Aoyagi made a great save to preserve the shutout.
Tech’s final opportunity came in the 79th minute when Helgadottir used a free kick from outside the box to put a shot on target, but her attempt was stopped by Eckerd’s keeper.

The Panthers maintained possession for a majority of the rest of the match and the game ended with a final score of 4-0.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech’s next match will be on Sunday, Nov. 12 against second-seeded and No. 11 Embry-Riddle in the SSC Championship Match. Opening kickoff will be at Rick Stottler Field in Melbourne, Florida, time still to be determined.