MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University’s men’s soccer squad defeated Eckerd Saturday night 1-0 in the regular season finale, guaranteeing the Bucs to host a first round Sunshine State Conference Tournament match next week.
Thomas Coombes scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season, before being sent off, and Johnny Rodrigues collected his 43rd career win and his 28th shutout, which now ties him for most all-time in program history, in the Barry’s regular season finale.
The Bucs dominated from the start, out-shooting the Tritons 13-4 in the first half, but didn’t have a goal to show for it. Coombes was active all afternoon, creating opportunities for his teammates and himself and the Bucs defense was stout as well.
It wasn’t until the 62nd minute mark that Nico Gercke won a header and slipped a pass behind the defense to Coombes. Goalkeeper Toni Vertanen came rushing out and Coombes was able to chip the ball over his head to break the scoreless tie.
A physical second half was controlled by the Bucs as they continued to maintain a 10-6 advantage in shots throughout the period.
Johnny Rodrigues was not tested much in the contest but did come up with a pair of saves to seal the shutout. Rodrigues needs four saves to tie Vinicius Cavani for most all-time in Barry history and five to surpass him. With one more victory and shutout, Rodrigues can claim the all-time records in each category for himself.
Prior to the start of the match the Buccaneers honored the 2013 men’s soccer senior class (Shaun Herselman, Joong Kim and Johnny Rodrigues) with a pregame ceremony.
Barry will host the first round matchup on Tuesday night at Buccaneer field with kickoff scheduled for 7 pm. Live-stat and audio broadcast will be available through the Barry University athletics website, GOBARRYBUCS.COM.