Men's soccer team opens national tournament with a win

The Eastern Florida State College men's soccer team opened the NJCAA Division I National Tournament with a victory on a windy, cold evening Monday in Wichita, Kansas.

With winds reaching 30 miles per hour, the Titans battled both Murray State and the elements to pick up a 2-1 victory at Stryker Sports Complex.

For 80 minutes the game was scoreless but with nine minutes left in regulation, Luc Achermann-Stanfield took a free kick outside the box in the middle of the field and he blasted it into the corner to make it 1-0.

But the Titans weren't done as Mukisa Emmanuel made a nice pass to Stephen Gilbert who put it into the back of the net less than two minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

No. 10 seed Murray State made things interesting, scoring with 3:29 remaining to make it 2-1.

Eastern Florida State College outshot the Aggies 17-7. Murray State was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.

It marks the first national tournament win for head coach Adam Butler with Eastern Florida State College.

Eastern Florida State College will play No. 3 seed Salt Lake Community College Tuesday at 4 p.m. EST for the Group C title. The winner will advance to the national tournament semifinals on Thursday evening.