By: Taryn Taylor

Back to back wins have put the men’s soccer team back on track. The Spartans made quick work of Eckerd College on Oct. 14, beating the Tritons 3-1 for their seventh win of the season. Sophomore Monty Berrow, senior Keith Francisco, and graduate student Dominick Mondesir led the scoring charge.

“[The Oct. 14] game was about work, rate and consistency,” head coach Adrian Bush said. “It was our most complete game of the year. We are pleased with our results and the performance.”

Mondesir had a strong impact on the pitch after moving from right back to right midfield. The change allowed the Spartans to experiment more and Mondesir was able to do a lot more when placed in the midfield.

“Playing at right back for the majority of the season has proved difficult for me to impact games offensively, but last night I played in my preferred position of right midfield where it’s much easier to get into the box and effect games from an attacking standpoint and last night proved that,” Mondesir said. “After the win I am feeling positive, confident and self assured in my own game.”

He hopes to stay at the right midfield position for the remainder of the season and to contribute more to the scoring charge.

UT was the first to score after a 0-0 tie at the half. In the 57th minute, Berrow put the team up 1-0 with his third goal of the season. After the Tritons leveled up the score ten minutes later, Francisco and Mondesir sealed the win with consecutive goals.

“It was a very important win and a great team performance so we are very happy,”  Berrow said. “We need to take [Wednesday] night’s form into the next game at Barry and come home with another three points.”

The team prepares for every game by training hard and being focused mentally and physically. The players trained twice in Tampa before traveling to Barry University Saturday morning. While some took time to watch film or relax during the road trip to Barry, Mondesir and Berrow spent the time studying for their dense courseload.

“As I am an MBA student I have a copious amount of schoolwork to do, therefore I’m usually doing homework on the bus,” Mondesir said.

Berrow is in the same boat as Mondesir.

“We just have to catch up with missed work and let our professors know why we are absent, the four-hour journey to Miami is a good time to study,” said Berrow.

Before the game, the Barry Buccaneers were 6-2-2 with four home wins.

On Saturday night at Barry, the Spartans won 2-1 in overtime after being down by one in the first half. UT scored the two goals in the second half and in overtime. Nikolai Hammer scored the first goal with an assist from Jonathan Tiggs and Berrow scored the second goal in overtime to win the game. The Spartans are now 8-4 and 2-0 in overtime games this season. With this win they improve to 4-1 in the SSC.

“We have so much respect for every team in the conference and we must maintain our focus,” said coach Bush. “Winning on the road is something we will need to do if we want to win the SSC, this is the biggest game of the year.”

The Spartans’ season has overall been inconsistent, but with the win against Eckerd and Barry, the team looks to end the season on a good note.

“We’ve had some terrible losses against Florida Southern and North Georgia, but on the other hand we’ve had some fantastic wins and performances against Rollins, Nova and Eckerd,” said Mondesir. “I am confident that the squad will fulfill this goal.”

UT has two more games left in regular season play, on Oct. 21 at Saint Leo University and then back in Tampa for homecoming against Florida Tech.