By Matthew Restrepo
The University of Tampa men’s soccer team beat No. 13 West Florida on Thursday, Sept. 5, for its first victory over the Argonauts since 2017.
An early Argonauts penalty kick on goalkeeper Alex Hare gave them the lead, putting the Spartans down early.
“Obviously it wasn’t an ideal start,” said Hare. “It definitely helped me settle in.”
Coach Adrian Bush said the Spartans had a slow start, but the substitutions made a difference.
“Those guys that came in just really flipped the game right before halftime,” said Bush.
Rodrigo Lopes, one of the substitutions, made a goal in the 41st minute. Theo Maye originally missed a penalty kick, which he said was tough for him.
Maye said he was “feeling like [he] let the team down” regarding his missed penalty kick.
Ultimately, Maye would score the game-winning goal.
“After we got that second goal, I felt that we just defended for our lives,” said Maye.
Last season, the Spartans finished with a record of 4-5-6. Several injuries plagued the team last year, one of which was graduate student forward Pablo Marques.
“I’m not gonna say we didn’t have depth last year. We didn’t have players available to play,” said Marques.
Marques played 61 minutes in the opener.
Bush said, going into the game against Clayton State University in 2023, only one of their forwards was available to play.
Forward Anu Alemanji and defender Christian Fairchild ended up playing the forward position for that game due to many of the other forwards being injured. The Spartans ended up winning 4-0 in that game before winning three out of the next 12.
“It wasn’t good enough. Period,” said Bush regarding last season. “I understand as a former player and athlete here, you’re expected to win.”
This season, the Spartans have nine shots with eight of them being on target. Seven of those shots came from outside of the box. The Argonauts only had six shots with two being on target. Four of those shots taken were much closer than where the Spartans shot from.
During the 2023 season, the Spartans had 145 shots with each of the previous two years bringing over 200 shots. If the Spartans average eight shots on goal per game, then they could see over 115 shots on goal by the end of the season, which is more than double the amount they posted last season.
The team has brought in 17 new players this year. Two of those players are true freshmen, including starter Leonard Bogeskär and substitute Alex Dollard.
Bush said the Spartans did not lose this preseason with a 2-0 win over Southeastern, a tie against Montverde Academy, and a win over Lakeland United 2-0, who they lost to in the spring.
He has made his efforts to give players a chance to play. Between the first two preseason games, every player has been given playing time.
Bush said Alexandre Badji was the only player questionable heading into Thursday’s game, and this is the first year where all the players have gotten cleared by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which means any player can play.
Bush is entering his 19th season as head coach with an over .500 winning percentage, five Sunshine State Conference (SSC) championships and nine NCAA tournament appearances.
Tampa is ranked sixth in the SSC preseason polling and headed into Auburn-Montgomery with a 1-0 record on Saturday, Sept. 7, but suffered its first loss of the season in a 2-0 defeat.
Bush said this is one of the most talented teams he has been around.