Lynn Men’s Soccer Sees Yellow in Victory over Bucs

By Chad Beattie

In a game which saw 37 fouls, 10 yellow cards and over an hour of lightning delays, Lynn University’s 12th-ranked men’s soccer team overcame adversity to defeat rivals Barry University 2-1 on Wednesday night.  Chris Hellmann increased his Sunshine State Conference goal total to 11 with a pair of scores and the Fighting Knights improved to 7-1-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the league.

The physical play between the two squads started off the whistle and bit the Buccaneers (3-3-1, 0-1-0 SSC) in the end with two penalty kicks.  Just over four minutes into the match the first major whistle came when Barry keeper Jimmy McGregor smacked Hellmann inside the left portion of the box to supply the first PK.

Hellmann converted on the penalty attempt for his 10th goal of the year.

Lightning held up the start of the match by 40 minutes and forced a delay with 14:30 to remaining in the first half.  Once back on the rain-soaked pitch, the two adversaries returned to their battle where whistles and cards flew around.

The Buccaneers’ aggressiveness once again hurt in the 87th minute as McGregor stopped a one-on-one shot with Hellmann, only to foul Lynn’s striker on the rebound to surrender a second penalty kick.  Just like the first attempt, Hellmann did not miss, giving him an SSC-best 25 points on the year.

Lynn’s final goal proved important as Barry finally broke through a minute later to cut the deficit to 2-1.  Manuel Perz collected a pass 25-yards out, took a touch to his left and lofted a shot over Max Schmidt’s hands.  Barry tried in vain for a last-ditch effort to knot the game but the Blue & White’s defense cleared their zone on two occasions to secure the win.

Schmidt earned one save in the while his counterpart McGregor stopped four shots.  Lynn outshot Barry 15-12 but the Bucs held a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.