Nov. 12, 2004

Box Score

Macon, GA - The Florida Atlantic University men's soccer team could not overcome the loss of two offensive weapons as they fell 5-4 on penalties to Mercer Friday night in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament semifinals.

After losing Kristoffer Aarskog to a broken leg in late October, the Owls entered Friday's game without second-leading scorer Rustin Kluge, who injured his hamstring in Sunday's regular season finale against Adelphi.

Third-seeded Mercer opened the scoring in the 31st minute when Ben Ragan capitalized after FAU goalkeeper Anders Granstad failed to hold on to a Mark McKeever shot.

The Owls hit back just before halftime as Borce Ancevski netted his third goal of the year on an assist from Walter Yoder.

Neither team could break the deadlock in the second half or overtime so the result came down to the dreaded penalty shootout.

Each team made their first four kicks before Steven Tuckwood gave the Bears a 5-4 lead. FAU's Samuel-Eli Dzegede then stepped up to take the Owls fifth penalty, but his effort was tipped by Mercer goalkeeper Martin Walker onto the crossbar and away, giving the Bears the victory and a berth in Saturday's championship game against Central Florida.