Joshua Grosser scored his first goal of the season and added an assist as Florida Southern defeated Saint Leo 5-3 on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Berend Field in Lakeland. The No. 11 Florida Southern men’s soccer team scored four times before halftime and secured its fourth consecutive Sunshine State Conference victory.
Florida Southern improved to 9-1-0 overall and 4-0-0 in conference play. Saint Leo fell to 3-4-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the Sunshine State Conference. Florida Southern led 4-1 at halftime before Saint Leo pulled within one goal in the second half.
Florida Southern builds first-half lead
Grosser opened the scoring in the seventh minute with his first goal of the season, assisted by Darcy Moffat. Five minutes later, Grosser assisted Tim Baierlein, who scored his eighth goal of the season to give Florida Southern a 2-0 lead.
Saint Leo cut the deficit to 2-1 with an own goal in the 22nd minute. Florida Southern continued to create chances, including two shots by Payton Rausch that Saint Leo goalkeeper Vincent Fournier saved, before another own goal restored a two-goal advantage in the 36th minute.
Hector Oliver added a goal on a free kick from just outside the box with two minutes remaining in the first half. It was Oliver’s sixth goal of 2026 and the game-winning goal, giving Florida Southern a 4-1 lead at the break.
Saint Leo makes second-half push
Saint Leo responded less than a minute into the second half when Luis Gaitan scored on a penalty kick. Pietro Botasso scored in the 58th minute, cutting Florida Southern’s lead to 4-3.
Florida Southern goalkeeper Ricardo Marques saved a shot by Hayata Kobayashi at 60:11. Marques also made three saves in the first half, while Luciano Schiaffini had one shot saved and another go wide.
Santiago Luna forced a save in the 84th minute before Chandler Crawshaw restored Florida Southern’s two-goal lead. Crawshaw scored on his only shot for his first goal of the season.
Florida Southern controls shot margin
Florida Southern finished with a 15-13 advantage in total shots and led 9-6 in shots on target. Oliver led Florida Southern with three shots, including two on goal, while Baierlein scored on two shots and Crawshaw scored on his only attempt.
The match featured nine total cards. Each team received four yellow cards, and Schiaffini received a second yellow card late in the match.
Next match
Florida Southern was scheduled to play at Rollins on Saturday, Oct. 3. Kickoff was set for 6 p.m. in Winter Park.
FSB Take
Florida Southern’s four-goal first half provided the difference in a game that tightened after halftime. The win moved Florida Southern to 4-0-0 in Sunshine State Conference play and extended its conference winning streak to four matches.
Source: Original report