The University of Tampa women’s soccer team lost 1-0 last Thursday against Saint Leo, No. 6, in its final game of the regular season but bounced back to open the Sunshine State Conference tournament with a win over Lynn.
After a fairly slow start to the season, the Spartans finally heated up. They earned the No. 24 rank in the country and got to play Saint Leo, the No. 1 team in the conference, at home.
“It’s frustrating because we knew if we would have won or tied they wouldn’t have won the conference,” said Coach Lucey. “We were just gun shy at times.”
Tampa outshot Saint Leo 11-7. “We outshot them, and outplayed them,” said Lucey. “They defended as if their lives depended on it.”
Junior Courtney Peffley echoed Lucey’s thoughts on Tampa outplaying its opponent.
“We did have opportunities and their only opportunities came off our mistakes,” she said.
The loss ended the team’s winning streak of four games, though all four wins were against teams at the bottom of the conference.
The Spartans finished the regular season with a record of 10-5-2, (4-3-1 SSC).
The team played a gritty style, surrendering only 12 goals in 17 games. Tampa never gave up more than two goals in a game.
However, it was equally as difficult for them to find the back of the net sometimes. They were shut out six times during the season and seemed hesitant to take chances.
“At the time, sometimes the girls don’t recognize that you have to take it now,” said Lucey. “We get good looks but don’t always finish. I give Saint Leo credit for putting top scorers and forwards on defense in the second half.”
After the disappointing outcome of the regular season finale, the Spartans played Lynn on Tuesday night.
“We were the better team the first time against Lynn but they squeezed out a win against us,” said Peffley.
Tampa was the better team again against Lynn on Tuesday, but this time it showed on the scoreboard. The Spartans beat the Fighting Knights by a score of 2-1 on Tampa’s home turf.
After going scoreless in their last three halves, Tampa’s Samantha Kay scored in the eighth minute. The lead was short lived; however, as Lynn tied it up on a free kick in the 15th minute.
Tampa bounced back quickly as Lauren Moore scored just two minutes later. Leading 2-1 with nearly 70 minutes to go, the Spartans knew they had to clamp down defensively. There were chances, but the Spartans were able to hold off Lynn, and win 2-1.
Earlier in the year, Lynn beat Tampa 1-0. On Tuesday, Tampa beat them 2-1.
Earlier in the year, Saint Leo beat Tampa 1-0. The two teams will meet in Saint Leo on Friday.
The Spartans felt they outplayed Lynn and Saint Leo, and after beating Lynn they have some momentum going into Friday’s win-or-go-home matchup.
Saint Leo won the SSC with a 7-0-1 record for their first ever SSC Championship.
They earned a bye and have been waiting for either Lynn or Tampa. The winner will take on the winner of the Florida Tech vs. Rollins game.
The championship game will take place on Sunday.
John Hilsenroth can be reached at jhilsenroth@spartans.ut.edu.