Tuesday night’s game against Rollins Tars came to a disappointed close as a corner kick assist led to a late second half goal past the hands of Kevin St. John.

The goal was uncharacteristic of the Tampa defense otherwise strong performance. Daniel Bergstrand led the effort with a sliding block in the ninth minute of the first half.

Momentum continued to change hands until the 30th minute when Rollins began to push into Tampa’s zone. Despite the charging effort, the Tars were unable to find a hole through an impenetrable Spartan defense. Zach Barber deflected a potential goal in the 29th minute followed by several more deflections from Bergstrand including a crucial block in the 43rd minute.

St. John kept the half scoreless despite seven shots-on-goal. Ricardo Cardoso opened the shootingl for Tampa, but the offense’s effort resulted in only four first half shots-on-goal.

The second half started much the same as neither team could fully control the flow of the game. Tampa’s offense then received a boost when high scorers Cardoso and Clevon George took the field.

Cardoso put numerous shots on the goal in the game, with one most notably a small breakaway when he beat the defender in the goalie’s box. The shot was knocked away by the Rollins keeper, leaving the game scoreless in the 65th minute.

Tampa’s offense refused to let up, pounding the Tars’ defense with 10 shots-on-goal in the second half alone. Rollins continued to see red in the Tampa zone as the defenders swarmed any offensive attempt, allowing only four shots-on-goal. Within 10 minutes to play, Rollins set a corner kick just outside the 20-yard box.

The unexpected attempt at a shot left Tampa down a goal and facing a 1-1 conference record.

They now carry a 5-3 record facing their conference leaders Lynn University on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in Pepin Stadium.