No. 1 men's soccer team wins home opener

The Eastern Florida State College men's soccer team improved to 4-0 Tuesday night, defeating Lakeland United in the home opener.

The Titans, who are now 4-0 and were named the No. 1 team in the NJCAA Division I National Poll, picked up the 5-2 win at Orlando Health Stadium.

After a scoreless first half, seven goals were scored in the second half with the Titans scoring five times. Five different players found the scoring sheet for the Titans.

"Definitely much better in the second half, I think Lakeland is a great test, always have really talented players and we saw some stuff that we haven't had to deal with before," Eastern Florida State College men's soccer coach Adam Butler said.

Down 1-0 and 29 minutes left, Mukisa Emmanuel scored to put the Titans on the board and tie the match 1-1. It was the seventh goal of the season for Emmanuel which is the most in NJCAA Division I men's soccer this season.

The Titans took the lead after a foul in the box led to an Eastern Florida State College penalty kick. Adrian Adrian stepped up and scored to give the Titans a 2-1 lead with 23:39 left. Less than three minutes later a penalty was called in the box on the other end, giving Lakeland United a penalty kick. They made it an the game was tied with under 22 minutes left.

But the Titans would finish strong, scoring three goals in the final 14 minutes.

Another penalty kick was awarded to the Titans with 14 minutes left in the contest. Sophomore Luc Achermann-Stanfield took the penalty kick, burying the shot to give the Titans a 3-2 lead. With 5:07 remaining, Isaak Torossian took the ball from a diving keeper, turned and scored to make it 4-2.

With a minute and 20 seconds left in the game Mateo Acuna Marmol made it 5-2 with his second goal of the season.

Eastern Florida State College will be back on the road this weekend, play Cape Fear on Sunday and then USC Lancaster on Monday.