By: Brandon Wise / Staff Writer
With the seconds slowly ticking off on the end of their season, the Panthers found themselves where they were most of the year: in a dogfight.
Their fight turned out to be that much bigger than Florida Gulf Coast.
Freshman Colby Burdette and sophomore Nicloas Rodriguez-Fraile propelled the Panthers past the Eagles as they won 3-2 in their final game of the season.
In the 88th minute of play, with the game heading toward extra time with the score tied at 2-2, Burdette took a pass from the top of the box.
He then passed it off to Rodriguez-Fraile, who had just the keeper to beat and buried it in the back of the net with his left foot. Burdette saw the play developing right in front of him.
“Nico’s [Rodriguez-Fraile] good to play up top with, and I saw him coming down the side so I laid it off,” Burdette said. “I knew if he had a shot, he wouldn’t miss the target.”
Before that, the Panthers got going early when senior Andri Alexandersson received a corner kick and rebounded it into the lower corner of the net.
But the Eagles bounced right back as Andres Navas put a shot through on a free kick in the 22nd minute.
The Eagles then took the lead just five minutes later when Josey Portillo scored off a rebound of the crossbar. Rodriguez-Fraile knew the team had to bounce back after halftime.
“They came back on us after we jumped out early,” Rodriguez-Fraile said. “It was a total team effort, a real battle out there.”
Burdette scored the equalizer for the Panthers in the 58th minute off a rebound in front of the net.
“It was a juggle in the box,” Burdette said. “It just fell right in front of me and I saw the back post and placed it.”
The Panthers then finished it off with the Burdette to Rodriguez-Fraile connection in the waning minutes.
Disappointment
The Panthers finished the season with a 5-8-4 record and 1-5-2 in Conference USA, finishing eighth. That record was not good enough for the Panthers to qualify for postseason play.
The Panthers were in every game they played this season as they hung with the best of them, defeating the No. 21 team in the nation, Kentucky. Then, just two games later, the Panthers tied against the No. 6 team in the nation, Central Florida. Burdette had to make some adjustments for his first season of college soccer.
“In college, you have to be fit to play this game,” Burdette said. “But it was enjoyable and we will have a good team next year.”
As for Rodriguez-Fraile, he is already thinking toward next season.
“It was definitely a season to forget,” Rodriguez-Fraile said. “We lost a lot of games and suffered a lot of injuries. But, we have to learn from it and come back next season and be stronger.”
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