The start of the season saw a great winning streak for the Spartans as they won three of their four first games in a row. The first two victories ended up being complete shutouts with a score of 4-0. The first game of the season, however, ended in a 2-2 tie against Clayton State. Their vicious winning streak was finally broken against Nova Southeastern in another tie game. Even though the game went into overtime, the score still ended up 0-0.
After the tie, the Spartans hit a patch of bad luck as their game against West Palm Beach Atlantic was cancelled due to unfavorable weather conditions. The streak of bad luck continued into their next game as the Spartans suffered their first loss of the season against Florida Southern in a 3-0 shutout. This put the Spartans at 3-1-2 while the Moccasins were 2-3 overall. While the first half started and ended without any scoring, Tampa was able to outshoot Florida Southern with a 5-to-3 shot ratio while also maintaining strong defense. The Moccasins were finally able to score on a penalty kick past Spartan goalkeeper David Niepel.
Things began looking up again as the Spartans won their next matchup against Eckerd with an astounding 5-1 score. This victory was short-lived as the Spartans were soon plagued with two more losses of a 3-2 score against Rollins and Florida Tech. Before the two losses, the Spartans were on their way to a top ten ranking.
“I am really not concerned about a ranking three weeks into the season. In this conference and region, there are no days off,” head coach Adrian Bush said.
Being so close to the top ten this early in the season is an accomplishment in itself, and while the past few losses have been setbacks, the Spartans still have hope of making it. For now the Spartans are going to have to make do sitting at No. 11 in the rankings.
With the SSC Tournament drawing closer, the Spartans have much to prepare for to keep their record in check. With Bush standing at 93 career wins, he could become the third head coach in program history to surpass the 100 career victories mark, joining other coaches such as Tom Fitzgerald and Jay Miller in their triumphant record breaking victories. The Spartans have much to look forward to as the season continues to progress and much to live up to. Currently standing at an overall record of 4-4-2, the Spartans still have time to recover from their losses and make it into the top ten.
Grant Pawlak can be reached at grant.pawlak@spartans.ut.edu.