Women's Soccer | 10/30/2018 12:43:00 PM

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.— Barry is hosting the semifinal round of the 2018 Sunshine State Conference Soccer Tournaments at Buccaneer Field on Thursday night. The second-seeded men host third seed Lynn at 4:30 pm with the top-seeded women taking on fifth seed Embry-Riddle at 7:00 pm.

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS
Men's Records: #2 Barry (12-3-1, 7-2-1 SSC); #3 Lynn (11-3-1, 7-2-1 SSC)
All-Time Series: Lynn leads 26-11-5
Women's Records: #1 Barry (14-0-1, 9-0-1 SSC); #5 Embry-Riddle (8-7-0, 5-5-0 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 2-1-1

Men's Soccer 

The Barry Buccaneers and Lynn Knights are playing in the post-season for the seventh time in history and both team come into the contest ranked in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll. Barry sits at #17 with Lynn slotting in at #23. Lynn holds a narrow 2-1-3 edge in the previous six meetings. The last three have come in the SSC Tournament. In the 2013 SSC Final, the teams tied 2-2 with Barry taking the conference title on penalty kicks. In the 2011 SSC semifinals, they tied 0-0 with Barry advancing on kicks, but the Knights turned the trick around in the NCAA . In the 2003 final, the first in conference history, Lynn carried a 2-1 win for the championship. The teams also met twice in the NCAA Tournament, splitting a pair of games. Lynn won 3-0 in 1998, while Barry prevailed 1-0 in 1999.

Barry captured the regular-season meeting with the Knights in Boca Raton, winning 2-0 on Oct. 10. Andreas Volk scored in the second minute and Flavio Colasanti scored on a free kick in the 84th. The Knights only managed two shots on goal. Barry has been off since Saturday, Oct. 20 when they clinched the second seed in the tournament with a 3-0 win over Florida Southern in Lakeland. The Knights come in off a 3-1 win over those same Moccasins in the SSC Quarterfinals.

The Bucs are third in the SSC in scoring margin at +1.25, having scored 35 goals while allowing 15 in 16 games. Colasanti, who earlier this year tied a school record with goals in seven straight games, leads the league with 11 goals. Aday Gonzalez has seven assists to rank tied for fifth in the league. Marco Sordi is also fifth with a 1.11 goals against average, but tops the conference with six shutouts and a 79.2 save percentage.

Lynn is sixth in the conference with a +1.20 margin. They have scored 30 goals, but given up just 12. Jack Watson leads the balanced attack, that hs seen 13 different players score, with six goals. Max Herbert is tied for the third in the SSC with eight assists. Roberto Bazzichetto ranks second in the league with a 0.85 goals against average and has five shutouts, but ranks just eighth in save percentage with a 67.6 mark.

The winner of this game will face the winner of the Palm Beach Atlantic/Nova Southeastern semifinal on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Women's Soccer 

The Bucs are ranked in the top-10 of the United Soccer Coaches poll heading into the game. The Bucs have held onto the ninth spot in the poll for the last month. The Eagles are unranked.

The Eagles and Bucs have played four times in the past, all since ERAU joined the conference in 2015. The Bucs hold a 2-1-1 edge in the series after winning 5-0 in Miami Shores on September 29.

The Bucs lead the SSC in goal differential at +2.20 per game, thanks in large part to their dominant defense, that features five senior starters. Keeper Melanie Zeigner is the conference leader in goals against average, allowing just 0.32. She has six solo shutouts in 14 games, which is second. Her 86.4 save percentage also tops the conference. The quartet of Jade Adams, Alyssa Lugo, Brittany Larosa and Yanni Asson, in addition to holding the opponents just 2.5 shots on goal per game. The Bucs also rank first in the league in offense at 2.53 goals per game behind seniors Christy Grimshaw and Molly Sharpe. The duo is first and second in league in points, goals and assists. Grimshaw leads in goals with 13, while Sharpe has 12. Sharpe leads in assists with 10 while Grimshaw has nine. Grimshaw has 35 points to Sharpe's 34. And Sharpe had six game-winning goals. Grimshaw has five.

Embry-Riddle is eighth in the conference with a -0.34 goal differential, having scored just 17 goals and allowed 22. Eva Jonsdottir leads the Eagles with four goals. Annie Gelnew is third in the conference behind Sharpe and Grimshaw with six assists. Dana Ruchti and Fanny Kristiansson have split duties in goal, for a team that sits seventh in goals against average. Ruchti, who is 5-3 with one shutout, has a 1.24 goals against average and 79.7 save percentage. Kristiansson is 3-4 with a 1.72 goals against average and 69.7 save percentage, but has two shutouts.

The winner of this game will face the winner of the Nova Southeastern/Rollins semifinal on Sunday, Nov. 4.