The University of Tampa women’s soccer team had a long ride home on Sunday, Sept. 26 after losing to a Barry team that they out-shot, out-possessed and arguably out-played.
The 3-1 loss was Tampa’s second of the season and moved the team down to fifth in the conference standings. The Spartans had 16 shots to Barry’s nine and placed nine shots on goal, while their opponents only managed five.
The advantage in corner kicks also went to the Spartans, and they seemed to dominate play.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, Barry struck first just 26 minutes into the game. The Spartans seemed to have rebounded a minute later when Carolyn Simon put one in the back of the net to even the score, but in the end, youthful mistakes seemed to be Tampa’s undoing.
Barry’s Sylvia Lugo cleaned up a rebound to give Barry back the lead. Another error by the Spartans sealed the deal; a late goal put the game out of reach.
This is the second time this year the Spartans have let down after gaining momentum in a game. The first time resulted in a loss to Tusculum on Sept. 17 after having a 1-0 lead at half time.
“We didn’t really play for ninety minutes,” said junior Spartan Jazmin Perry. “We scored a goal, but we kind of let down in the second half just thinking, ‘Alright, we sort of have this in the bag.’ But they came out much harder in the second half and they wanted to win and they knew that if they kept working hard they could get a goal.”
Tusculum would get three in a 25-minute span. Still, senior forward Luana Miessa felt that the loss might have been good for the team in the long run.
“I think [it was] kind of good [that we] lost this game because it makes us realize, ‘Ok, we need to pick it up, the conference is coming.’ We were hungry and said, ‘Let’s go get it,’” Miessa said.
Tampa seemed to have overcome their mental mistakes in a 2-1 come-from-behind win in overtime against Lander on Sept. 19. Miessa seemed to have truly stepped into her leadership role, netting the lone overtime goal to lead the Spartans to victory.
Perry felt that the team showed patience, kept playing for ninety minutes, and continued to work hard even in overtime.
However, going into their game against Barry, Miessa, a team captain, felt that communication and leadership were still issues for the squad.
“One point that I think we are not very strong [is that] we do not have a lot of people that can communicate. We don’t have a lot of leaders on the team,” Miessa said. “I think we should talk more.”
Perry echoed Miessa’s concerns, stating that the team gave up too many goals due to communication problems. Defensive communication problems were the Spartans’ undoing against Barry, when an issue between keeper
Leah Cesanek and a defender caused the Spartans to score in their own net to make it a 3-1 game.
Despite coming up short in two matches thus far, Perry and Miessa still believe that the Spartans have a chance at a national title.
“I think we have a really good shot this year,” said Perry, “I know we’re a new squad getting to know each other, but I think we’re starting to mesh really well, and I think we can go pretty far in the tournament.”
The Spartans may have a talented side, but if mental errors persist, it could hinder Tampa’s run at a title. They have eight games to get things sorted out, but their remaining schedule will be a true test of the Spartans’ mettle, with Florida Tech, Columbus State and Rollins rolling into Pepin Stadium.
With a 6-0 victory over conference opponent Eckerd College on Sept. 28, the Spartan women improved both their overall and conference record. They are now 7-2 on the year with a 2-1 conference record. Brittan Spench notched two goals for the Spartans, while Courtney Peffley, Natalie Gibson, Carolyn Simon and Caroline Spencer all had a goal each. Eckerd fell to 1-8 on the year sit at the bottom of the SSC.
A tough matchup at conference rival Florida Southern, who last season advanced to the SSC Championship game but lost to Rollins, on Oct. 5 will also test the Spartan’s resiliency.
“I know last year was pretty rough for us, but I feel like we have a [much stronger] squad, a lot more technical and people that work a lot harder, not just on the field, but also on the bench,” Perry said.
“I felt like we were lacking that last year, and I feel like this year we’ll have a lot more depth.”
When asked what the team needed to do in order to compete with Florida Southern, but lost to Rollins Miessa’s answer was short and to the point.
“Play simple,” Miessa said. “And again, communicate.”
Davis Fox can be reached at davison.fox@spartans.ut.edu.