The Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) men’s soccer team achieved a 2-0 win against Nova Southeastern University (NSU) on Wednesday at the NSU Soccer & Lacrosse Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This victory secured the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) regular season championship for PBA.
This is the fourth SSC regular season title for PBA men’s soccer and the first under head coach Lucas Martorana. The Sailfish are ranked No. 3 in the USC top 25 with an overall record of 12-1-1 and remain undefeated in Division II play this season, holding a conference record of 7-0-1.
Both goals were scored during the second half. Niklas Mahler opened the scoring by redirecting a cross from Joshua Wicks into the net at the 60th minute, giving PBA a 1-0 lead. Later, after resisting pressure from NSU, Matteo Colombo led a counterattack and passed to Marko Borovic, who set up Ole Lichter for the final goal with just 30 seconds remaining.
PBA began with early offensive efforts as Marian Rutkowski forced NSU goalkeeper Santino Scerbo to make a save in the 18th minute. Despite multiple shots by Mahler and Livio Von Holzen, Scerbo kept PBA scoreless through halftime.
On defense, Flavio Giannini, recently named SSC Defensive Player of the Week, was instrumental in preventing NSU from scoring. The first half ended without any goals despite several corner kicks for PBA.
The Sailfish continued their offensive push in the second half, leading to Mahler’s goal at minute 59. Giannini preserved the lead with a key save in the 69th minute before Lichter secured victory with his late goal.
Giannini finished with one save and a shutout over his full 90 minutes on the field. PBA outshot NSU by twelve attempts to four and held a nine-to-one advantage in shots on target. The Sailfish also earned five corner kicks compared to one for NSU.
By clinching this win, PBA locked up the No. 1 seed heading into the SSC tournament. The team will conclude its regular season at home against Rollins on Saturday at Rinker Athletic Campus.
