DeLand, Fla. - Friday night in the Stetson Soccer Classic midfielder Fredrik Brustad showed why he was voted the Atlantic Sun Conference's Preseason Player of the Year. The junior from Oslo, Norway scored three goals in less than four minutes and led Stetson (2-1-1) to a 4-1 win over Manhattan College (0-4-0).
It was a slow start for the Hatters who led the Jaspers in shots 10-4 in the first half yet went into the break down 1-0 on the scoreboard. At 34:55 Manhattan's Joshua Renner (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) blasted a perfectly placed free kick from 40 yards out that sailed over Stetson goalkeeper Andreas Schnabl (Blaichach, Germany) and into the top right corner. It was a tough goal to swallow for a Hatter team that played very well defensively on the night.
"Our back four did another great job. Ryan corning has been playing very well", said Stetson head coach T. Logan Fleck. "I think he was really overlooked when it came to naming the all-tournament team up at Furman. Ryan is back to being Ryan."
Fleck must have said the right things during halftime because the Hatters stormed out and scored four goals in the first eight minutes and 12 seconds.
"I didn't try and fire them up I challenged them", said Fleck. "We had a lackluster first half. I just told them that we shouldn't accept the way we played. We just needed to play off each other and run for each other. It's all about team chemistry."
The 50th minute was particularly efficient for the Hatters who delivered three goals between 49:09 and 49:57. Sophomore Kai Eckenrode (Springfield, Va.) struck first with his 3rd goal of the season after pouncing on a loose ball in a goalmouth scramble. Twenty eight seconds later Joakim Helland (Bergen, Norway) slipped a through pass to Eckenrode who one-timed to Brustad for his first goal from 10 feet out. Brustad tallied his second on a quick strike off the re-start. Eckenrode hit Jonathan Mendoza (Bogata, Columbia) who made a run down the right flank and delivered a cross to Brustad five yards out.
The offensive burst came to an end and Brustad completed his hat trick from 12 yards out on the left side at 53:12. Helland played the ball in deep to Mendoza who flicked a pass to the open Brustad.
"Freddy was outstanding tonight. He did a great job pressing them and making sure that when we got the ball into him he'd have a good chance to score. I thought he was impressive. Can see why everyone looks at him in scouting reports and says you can't stop him", said Fleck.
Stetson finished the game with a 21-11 advantage in shots and up 4-1 in corner kick opportunities. Schnabl was rarely tested facing two shots on goal and picking up one save.
Earlier in the evening Florida International defeated Jacksonville University 2-1 in the tournament's first game which was played in Jacksonville. On Sunday all four Stetson Classic teams will gather in DeLand with Jacksonville playing Manhattan at 12:00 p.m. and Stetson taking on FIU at 2:30 p.m.
