JACKSONVILLE, FLA. – The Jacksonville University men's soccer team hosted the Liberty Flames on Saturday night at Southern Oak Stadium in their final home game of the season.

The conference matchup, that saw a combined total of 22 shots resulted in a tough 1-0 loss for the Dolphins (5-6-2).

"I thought our boys played well. I thought we were resilient, we displayed how dangerous we can be. Their goalkeeper just had a good game today. They made it difficult for us to play, they defended well. I thought our boys fought all the way through there and it was just unfortunate not to get a tying goal," commented Head Coach Mauricio B. Ruiz.

Jacksonville recorded eight shots in the first half and out-shot Liberty 8-3. The booming offensive effort on the night is credited to multiple players. Sophomore forward Reggie Nicolas is credited with two of the eight. Senior forward Kai Bennett, sophomore Nazar Deputat, junior midfielder Connar Lufkin, junior forward Jose Manzo, freshman defender Habib Famuditimi and freshman midfielder Mason Tunbridge each contributed one as well.

The lone goal of the night that secured the victory for Liberty came in the early minutes of the first half from Shalom Dutey.

Jacksonville, who was able to maintain possession for most of the second half continued to put up impressive numbers with a total of 11 shots in the second half.
The first shot of the second half came from Lufkin in the early minutes which then set the tone for the remainder of the match freshman defender Cole Reasonover followed suit quickly after   with a ball that landed in the hands of the Liberty keeper. Nicolas and Bennett fired off powerful shots within seconds of each other that ignited the fans. Junior midfielder Steven Saunders, who is recognized as the Hodges Mazda Player Of The Game recorded three impressive shots. Manzo, who displayed the same energy and determination also contributed three more in the half.

A persistent JU team remained in front of the Liberty keeper for the final five minutes in an unrelenting attempt to tie the game. Famuditimi was last to touch the ball for JU when he made a final attempt in the 89^th minute.

 "We are in a good position. I think we are playing some good soccer. I think we are creating good changes and we are a difficult team to play against. We have a tough opponent next week at NJIT and the season is still very much in our hands. We just have to go out there and finish business." Ruiz concluded.

Jacksonville will close out their regular season on November 2^nd at NJIT.