Soccer Squeaks Out Last Minute Win

The University of Tampa women’s soccer team kicked off SSC play in fashion, beating rivals Eckerd and Saint Leo.  The Spartans beat  St. Leo 1-0 on an 89th minute goal by freshman Cici Gonzalez, her eighth goal of the season.

The Spartans are now 7-2 as well as 2-0 in the SSC.  St. Leo’s record dropped to 2-5 with a 1-2 record in the SSC.  Though the Spartans were able to win this game, it was too close for comfort, given that they not only outshot St Leo 19-4, but also had more shots on goal (4-2).

Thankfully, the Spartans were able to win, but if St. Leo had had more shot opportunities it could have been a different game. “ We had a lot of opportunities and we should have beat them by a lot more, we just had a hard time finding the back of the net,” said sophomore Gabby Russo. Russo, who is coming off of a First-Team All- SSC season with four goals and 12 assists, had four shots on goal during the St. Leo match.

Despite this too close for comfort game, Russo still thinks that realistically the team can win the conference, the NCAA tournament, and bring home a national championship to Tampa. The two teams that could ruin this parade, according to Russo, are Lynn and Rollins College, but Russo still believes the Spartans can prove themselves to be the team to beat in the SSC.

Any coach wants nothing more than having his team come away victorious. Coach Gerry Lucey was, for the most part, pleased with his team’s most recent outing.

“The team played well and kept discipline and motivation throughout the game.”  Coach Lucey also added that it was “frustrating that we weren’t scoring goals but give a lot of credit to the team for keeping focus”.

Coach Lucey also agreed with one of Russo’s picks as one of the teams he deemed the hardest to beat in the SSC.  He agrees that Lynn College is a tough competitor but he believes that Florida Tech is the second team the Spartans really need to look out for.  “It’s a tough conference,” he said. “ The teams will lose one game and then they win the next.  They just beat each other up.” The Spartans next game is September 29 against Rollins College.

“To prepare for this conference game, I want the team to practice and work on focusing on being better the last 20 yards of the field, crossing and finishing better,” Lucey said. I also want to be more clinical in that area of the field and doing this will allow the Spartans to win more games”.

When asked what his realistic goal for the year was, Coach Lucey laughed and said, “It’s the same as it is every year. Get to the final four, win, and then win the national championship.” He paused slightly before adding, “We have a young team.  I’m hoping we can continue to have them grow and get enough wins to get to the NCAA tournament”.

Connor Anthony can be reached at connor.anthony@spartans.ut.edu