Colleges: Spartans move into NCAA quarterfinals

The University of Tampa moved one win away from a return to the NCAA Division II Tournament Final Four as the No.10-ranked Spartans defeated host and No.5-ranked Rollins 2-1 in the second round of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The Spartans got first half goals from Dan Ingvarsson and Greg O’Connor put the Spartans ahead, but it took some excellent goalkeeping from Ryan Thompson, and a late goal to be denied on an offside call, for the Spartans to advance to the quarterfinals.

“It gets us one step closer and we have to continue to improve in a lot of areas,” Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. “We will enjoy this and it’s back to work for our players tomorrow. With our staff, there are no days off; our prep is immediate.”

The Spartans opened brightly, and Ingvarsson opened the scoring in the 26th minute as he curled a free kick from just outside the penalty area into the net for his fifth goal of the season. The Tars then went close to tying the game as the Tars leading scorer J.D. Greunewald was denied by Thompson before O’Connor latched onto a pass by Brian Fekete and fired a shot in from the left corner of the penalty area.

Trailing 2-0 at halftime, the Tars increased their intensity to start the second half, but it was matched for the most part by the Spartans as neither side was able to gain an upper hand. That changed midway through the half as an angled cross into the penalty area from Jacob Deloach was headed home by Bradley Welch to make it a one-goal game.

The Tars then appeared to have tied the game with nine minutes to play, but Dennis Chin had his goal denied by the assistant referee's raised flag, signalling an offside call. Four minutes later, Thompson kept the Spartans ahead as he punched clear a header by Thomas Biddenger, and Tampa was able to hold on for the final five minutes.

“We want to tip our hats to Rollins, their coaching staff, and program,” Bush said. “This is a program with class and an outstanding team. This was a great win on the road against a very good team.”

The Spartans will travel to face No.9-ranked Lees-McRae in the quarterfinals on Saturday after the Bobcats defeated No.24 Anderson University 3-2 in their second round contest.

Colleges: Anderson's strike stuns Spartans, gives Barry SSC title

TAMPA – Before his No.8-ranked University of Tampa side took to the field to face Barry in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament final, Spartans coach Adrian Bush said he thought that Buccaneers midfielder Mark Anderson was the best player not only in the conference, but in the entire South region.

With the game scoreless with six minute to play, Anderson’s brilliant 25-yard volley not only backed Bush’s statement, but also gave the Buccaneers the championship.

Mark Kilpatrick added a second goal four minutes later to give the Buccaneers their first SSC Tournament title since 2002, and fourth overall, with a 2-0 victory at Pepin-Rood Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Anderson’s goal came like a bolt from the blue. An angled cross from the right side was headed away by Tampa’s Kyle Williams, but it came to Anderson, who fired his first-time left-footed volley low into the right corner of the net, Spartans goalkeeper Ryan Thompson frozen to his line as the fantastic strike flashed into the net.

“I anticipated it, it fell to my left foot, my weaker foot,” Anderson said. “Lucky enough, it went straight in.”

Anderson then assisted on Mark Kilpatrick’s counter-attack goal in the 87th minute, Zach Fraser’s shot getting blocked to give the Bucs a two-on-one the other way as the Spartans pushed forward for an equalizer. Kilpatrick picked up Anderson’s pass just inside his own half and took it to the edge of the penalty area before sliding his shot underneath an advancing Thompson to make it 2-0.

That it was still scoreless in the final 10 minutes laid at the feet of the Spartans, who could, and quite probably should, have been ahead by that point. Pascal Milien had a close-range header go off the firm Pepin-Rood surface over the crossbar, and then had a shot blocked after a great move begun by Greg O’Connor and continued by Lister Warren had put Milien in on the left in the first half.

The Spartans continued to carry the play to start the second half, Warren seeing his shot from the top of the penalty area well saved, and O’Connor beating two defenders as he cut into the penalty area from the right, only to fire his left-footed shot over the crossbar.

Milien then had an appeal for a penalty turned down after he had picked up the ball at midfield, sped past two defenders down the left side and was clattered into by a Barry defender in the penalty area. Referee Shane Moody saw it as a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge, though, allowing play to continue. Fraser then saw his shot from eight yards go over after a good cross by Brian Fekete on the left.

As the game went on, the Spartans frustration at a lack of a goal became more evident, and they were deeply unhappy after the final whistle blew.

“This is hard,” Milien said. “This is the worst moment for me playing soccer, when I played on my home field, and I see the other team celebrating on my home field, that’s hurting me. But at the end of the day, this is the game of soccer. We’ve got to put this behind us and then move forward.”

Those celebration were sweet for Buccaneers coach Steve McCrath, who said his young side had matured after falling 2-1 to the Spartans back in September. The Buccaneers have now won 10 of their last 11 games entering the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week.

“I think we matured after our game against Tampa the first time,” McCrath said. “From that point on, I think we were much better than a (SSC Tournament) four-seed, but the point is that this team, young as it is, is probably just as strong as anybody in the conference at the top. I think we could all be rated the No.1 team.”

Bush said he was disappointed to lose, but gave credit to the Buccaneers for their victory.

“I think to win championships, you have to come out with championship emotion,” Bush said. “In my opinion, they deserved to win the game based on (the fact that) they wanted to win more than our guys. I’m very, very disappointed in our guys, and now we get to find out what sort of character we’ve got.”

The Spartans were hoping a victory would allow them to be a host site for the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament. Now they will have to wait and see whether they have to travel, and if so where, for the opening weekend of the tournament when the bracket is announced on Monday evening.

Colleges: Spartans advance to SSC championship game

If the University of Tampa needed a reminder of what could happen in its Sunshine State Conference semifinal against Nova Southeastern, it had only to watch the first game played at Pepin-Rood Stadium on Friday night.

There, the No.4 seed Barry scored in the 87th minute to defeat No.1 seed Rollins to earn its place in Sunday’s final.

The No.2 seed Spartans had no such difficulty with the No.6 seed Sharks as Lister Warren scored twice off first half set pieces to lead Tampa to a 3-0 victory.

Tampa took the lead in the 11th minute as Warren headed home from Pascal Milien’s corner kick. The Spartans then doubled their lead in the 33rd minute, Dan Ingvarsson’s free kick allowing Warren to head home again.

The Sharks forced more pressure in the second half, but were unable to cut into the Spartans lead as SSC Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Thompson made seven saves to earn his fifth shutout of the season. Milien added the Spartans third goal of the night with 15 minute to play, giving the Spartans the opportunity to win their second SSC title in three years.

The Spartans will face the Buccaneers at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Pepin-Rood Stadium. Tampa defeated Barry 2-1 in the regular season meeting between the two teams in September, Milien and Brian Fekete scoring for Tampa.

Colleges: Milien goal edges No.9 Spartans past Panthers

Pascal Milien scored his 10th goal of the season, and Ryan Thompson made a pair of crucial late saves as No.9 Tampa defeated Florida Tech 1-0 to move into a tie with Rollins for first place in the Sunshine State Conference.

With the game deadlocked entering the second half, the Spartans had a strong spell of pressure in the first 10 minutes after the break, Brian Fekete and Ryan Griffin both forcing saves from Florida Tech goalkeeper Derrick Hackett. The game continued to flow back and forth until the 79th minute when Lister Warren found Milien on the left side, and he fired his shot into the left side of the net to the Spartans the lead.

The Panthers tried to rally, Naru Wild-Putsorn shooting over the bar and Nicolas Garcia having his shot blocked before their best chance came in the 88th minute. Peter Mindley had his shot saved by Thompson, who then recovered in time to stop David Tufft’s chance on the rebound.

According to Spartans coach Adrian Bush, Thompson was a game-time decision before kickoff, but his six saves earned the senior his third shutout of the season.

"The difference-maker today was Ryan Thompson," Bush said. "To come into today as a game time decision and for him to deliver that type of performance is nothing short of amazing."

The Spartans face their final non-conference game of the season against Johnson and Wales on Monday before closing the regular season against rival Saint Leo on Thursday night. The Spartans could have a chance to win the SSC regular season title after Rollins lost its first game of the season 2-0 to Barry on Saturday night, leaving both sides with 18 points in the standings with one game to play.

Colleges: No.2 Tampa gets tested, but pulls away from Eckerd

ST. PETERSBURG – With a pivotal game coming up on Friday for the University of Tampa, it could have been easy for the No.2-ranked Spartans to overlook their game on Tuesday night against an Eckerd team that had lost its previous two conference games.

The Tritons, though, gave the Spartans a tough test for the first 45 minutes before a pair of goals and a sending off in the second half allowed Tampa to earn a 4-1 victory at the Turley Athletic Complex.

“We’ve really focused on taking each game and breaking each game down,” Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. “To look ahead to Friday would have been very easy to do, and I think they came in with the right mentality and focus to get the job done tonight.

“I’m happy for our players because I know how hard they’ve worked to get the result that they got, because it could have been an easy let-down. But with this group, there are no let-downs. They’ve taken it in stride, they’ve beaten some very good teams, and it’s last game, next game for us. That’s all we really focus on.”

Tampa (10-0-1, 4-0-0 SSC) took the lead with a well-worked goal in the seventh minute, a long ball finding Pascal Milien on the right 30 yards from goal. Milien cut inside, and passed to Lister Warren at the top of the penalty area, who flicked the ball on to Ryan Griffin. With the defense pulled out of position, Griffin played the ball to Dominic Goncalves, who was overlapping down the left, and he shot into the net.

Eckerd (5-7-0, 3-3-0) bounced back quickly, and Spartans goalkeeper Ryan Thompson had to be sharp to make a pair of excellent saves, tipping a curling shot over the bar from Anthony Arico and palming a shot wide from Colin Kuhn.

Off the corner following Kuhn’s effort, the Tritons found an equalizer, Kuhn’s corner kick from the right going to the far post, where it was headed back across goal by Alex Patterson for Arico to volley home from eight yards out in the 18th minute.

The Tritons time on even terms was short-lived, though, as Dan Ingvarsson’s free kick from about 45 yards out found Ryan Griffin, who flicked his header into the left corner of the net six minutes later.

Both sides had chances to add to the scoring before halftime, Dan Sheekey and Arico being denied by Thompson, and Warren hitting the crossbar for the Spartans, but it wasn’t until the second half that Tampa began to pull away.

After Milien had picked up the ball in his own half, he beat a pair of Tritons and took off down he left flank, going about 50 yards before being brought down 25 yards from goal on the left side of the penalty area. Ingvarsson stepped up and curled a beautiful free kick over the defensive wall and into the left corner of the net, putting the Spartans up 3-1 in the 51st minute.

“It was nice,” Ingvarsson said. “I was lucky last year with a few, and it’s just so great to score my first free kick goal of the season.”

Ingvarsson also scored the Spartans’ fourth after Tampa was awarded a penalty when Mike Bethel’s shot was blocked by a defender’s hand in the penalty area. Eckerd goalkeeper Domenic Spedaliere did well to save Ingvarsson’s initial shot, diving to his right to save, but Ingvarsson followed up to score on the rebound.

Nine minutes later, the Tritons were reduced to 10 men after Sheekey was shown his second yellow card of the game for a poor challenge on Brian Fekete. While the Tritons had chances to score, with a man-advantage Tampa was able to control possession for the bulk of the remainder of the game.

Eckerd coach Jeremy Wisdo thought the difference in the game was finishing.

“We felt we had a couple of chances early on that we squandered early on,” Wisdo said. “Maybe in the first three corners we had two really good chances either we didn’t get on target or their goalie made a good save on.

“I thought our service was excellent from our corners, and from most of our set pieces, and we got on the end of a lot, but we couldn’t find the back of the net.”

The Spartans now travel to face No.9 Rollins on Friday night with the winner holding the inside track to the SSC regular season title. Bush said he has a great deal of respect for the Tars, who are 13-0-1 overall and 5-0-0 in the SSC after a 1-0 victory against Lynn on Tuesday night.


“Another top-10 match-up between two very solid teams,” Bush said. “I think their No.9 ranking is not justified, I definitely think they are a Top-5 team in the country, and we look forward to a great contest.”

Colleges: Spartans cap strong week with win over Moccasins

No.3 Tampa (8-0-1, 3-0-0) cruised to a 4-0 victory against Florida Southern (1-8-0, 1-4-0) on Friday night, completing a perfect week for the Spartans, who remained undefeated on the season.

After scoring three goals in the past two games, Pascal Milien turned provider on the Spartans first two goals on Friday, finding Lister Warren close in for the opening goal in the 16th minute. Former Plant City High standout doubled the Spartans lead in the 29th minute, taking a pass from Milien at the top of the penalty area before driving into the penalty area and scoring.

Zach Fraser’s 39th minute goal from the right added a third for the Spartans before half time. The win was Tampa’s third in four days after earning victories against Palm Beach Atlantic on Tuesday and Webber International on Wednesday.

“Three games in four days is never easy,” Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. “It’s a credit to the guys on a great week, but now we’ve got three days to get ready for Eckerd.”

The Lions face the Tritons on Tuesday night in what is shaping up to be a critical Sunshine State Conference game. Eckerd is 3-1 in the SSC, and a win would propel them into the conference championship race.

Colleges: No.5 Spartans defeat Barry in SSC opener

Brian Fekete and Pascal Milien both found the net as No.5 Tampa opened its Sunshine State Conference campaign on a winning note, defeating Barry 2-1 at Pepin-Rood Stadium on Saturday night.

The Spartans (5-0-1, 1-0-0 SSC) were in control for the bulk of the game, pressuring the Barry net as Dominic Goncalves and Lister Warren both had early shots saved. They were rewarded for their pressure in the 44th minute, when a speculative long-range shot by Fekete found its way into the net. It was the freshman’s first goal for the Spartans.

Tampa doubled its lead in the 64th minute as Milien created his own opportunity before sending a shot into the top right corner of the net.

Barry pulled a goal back with five minutes to go, Andres Perez scoring for the Buccaneers (3-3-1, 1-2-0), but their last-gasp efforts to tie the game were withstood by the Spartans.

Tampa will next host No.2 Lynn on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a game that should have a major say in who wins the SSC regular season title.