MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. | Florida Memorial returns to the semifinal round of the SUN Men's Soccer Tournament for the first time since 2014 and will face their Miami Gardens neighbors and third ranked team in the NAIA, St. Thomas, in a rematch of the 2012 SUN Men's Soccer Championship. The result went in favor of the Lions as Florida Memorial was crowned SUN Men's Soccer champions with a 1-0 victory over their archrival.

"I'm happy for the big step in the right direction here for this program," said first year head coach Alex Nichols, who is a two-time NAIA National Champion and Coach of the Year.

In two previous contests against their 'noisy neighbors', FMU fell 1-0 at Orange Bowl Field and 3-1 on the road at St. Thomas, where they make their return on that same pitch tonight.

"Our guys did a lot of things really well, and there have been a lot of lessons learned here throughout the season." Coach Nichols explained. "Our guys are very ambitious, exciting, and have high expectations for this postseason run. As a coaching staff, we believe in our guys, and they believe in each other. We know we have a chance to beat anybody, but at the same time, the guys are staying humble because they know that any team can win at this point in time. You can beat anybody, and you can lose to anybody."

Thankfully for Nichols, his team has been playing stellar as of late.

After falling to #19 Keiser by the score of 4-0 on Oct. 14, the Lions blazed a path to winning four of its last five contests; the only loss it suffered was when they took a 2-0 lead at halftime, only to fall 3-2 to Southeastern on Oct. 25, squandering its chances to secure third place in the SUN Men's Soccer regular season standings. In addition, FMU has outscored their last two opponents 10-0, including a 4-0 routing of SCAD in the tournament.

"We've got a motivated bunch and we're trusting and believing that they're all hitting their highest gear at the right time."

Click here to view the semifinal round of the SUN Men's Soccer Tournament. Click here to view stats for the SUN semifinal contest. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. tonight at Autonation Field on the campus of St. Thomas University.