Milien thrilled to be staying in Tampa

TAMPA – It’s hard to wipe the smile off Pascal Milien’s face at the best of times, but there was no chance of it happening as he was one of three players introduced by FC Tampa Bay Rowdies at Steinbrenner Field on Wednesday afternoon.

For the University of Tampa All-American, the opportunity to stay in Tampa to begin his professional career was one that left him overjoyed.

“I can’t ask for better,” Milien said. “This is a dream come true for me after all these years I’ve been pushing myself since high school, through college, thank God I finally have a chance to play in my hometown.”

Milien was joined by Jesuit graduate Joe Donoho, who had a stellar college career at Rutgers and Bradley. The Tampa native grew up a New York Yankees fan, and was looking forward to playing on the same field he had attended spring training games at growing up.

“It’s awesome,” Donoho said. “To be here to get a chance to do this, it really is a blessing.”

While the Rowdies said since the beginning of their search for players that they wanted to try and sign players with ties to the Tampa Bay area, Owner and President Andrew Nestor said that the main reason why the club had targeted Milien and Donoho was because of their playing ability.

“You always want to have local players,” Nestor said. “It helps the fan base, it helps develop future talent because local kids have something to look up to, but at the same time they have to be quality, and I think we’re pretty lucky to be in a market where you have local talent that is truly good enough to play at this level, and these two guys have shown that.”

Donoho and the third player introduced on Wednesday, Yendry Diaz, could make a strong central defensive pairing for the team in its inaugural season. Head coach Paul Dalglish said he couldn’t wait to see what his new players would be able to accomplish in the upcoming season.

“We’ve worked tirelessly to bring in the best players,” Dalglish said. “We’ve had a lot of combines to try and find talent, and three of the guys you saw today have been at the top of the pile when it comes to the talent we’ve been looking for. As some of the names you’ve seen, and some of the names you’ll hear about in the future are going to be very exciting names as well, and there’s going to be a lot of disappointed people who wanted to play in Tampa, but that’s a good thing for us because it means the standard is very high.”

Steinbrenner Field to be Rowdies first home; Milien, Donoho among signees

TAMPA – Steinbrenner Field will be the first home of the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies when they play their inaugural season in the United States Soccer Federation Second Division, with a home opener planned for early May.

Standing inside the club’s new home Rowdies Owner and President Andrew Nestor said he was excited everything was starting to come together for the franchise.

“It’s very exciting,” Nestor said. “It’s been a long year-and-a-half, restructuring, relaunching a league, building an entire organization from scratch, putting together not just and organization but a winning team that we feel will compete for a championship in our first year. To be able to announce that we’re going to play in such a great venue and really start to look forward is very exciting.”

While the Rowdies were effusive in their praise of their new home, they will still be looking to build a soccer-specific stadium which will become their permanent home. Plans for that are still in progress, though, with Nestor not willing to say where the stadium might be built.

As for the upcoming season, the league’s schedule is expected to be announced early next week according to the USSF, with the opening weekend currently schedule for April 10. When the team does get to host its home opener, the playing surface will be stripped across the outfield and over a portion of the infield around first base. While that will mean part of the surface will be infield dirt, Rowdies head coach Paul Dalglish wasn’t concerned about that detail.

“No concern whatsoever,” Dalglish said. “I think it’s a small price to pay for the standard of the grass that we’ve got. As you can see, it’s absolutely immaculate. There’s no team going to play on better grass this year and that’s for sure, and if there’s a little bit of dirt in the corner, it’s a small price to pay.”

Also introduced were three of the players who will be part of the Rowdies return, University of Tampa All-American Pascal Milien, former Jesuit graduate Joe Donoho and Yendry Diaz, who was one of the Cuban players who defected when the North American Olympic qualifying tournament was held in Tampa two years ago.

Others that have been signed include Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe, a former first round pick of MLS’s Colorado Rapids, and Dwight Barnett, who impressed at the Rowdies third combine in Tampa earlier this month. Dalglish echoed Nestor’s sentiment that the team would be shooting high in its first season.

“As Andrew said, we’re a new organization, but we want to be competitive from the very first day,” Dalglish said. “We’re coming out this year to win the championship. That’s out goal, we’re going to compete and win the championship. Is it a tough ask? Of course it is, but you’ve got to aim high, and that’s what we aim to do. We’ve got the players to do it, we’ve got the organization to do it, we’ve got the facility to do it, we just need a little bit of luck along the way, and we should be able to do it.”

Still to be announced is the location of the training facility, and a few more signings and the announcement of preseason games. With training camp opening on March 1, Nestor said he expects there to be five or six preseason games, with the opener likely at Pepin Stadium against the University of Tampa.

Currently the side has 13 players under contract, with Nestor saying another two deals were close to completion. Dalglish said he expected the side would carry a roster of 21 players.

As for what he would feel when the Rowdies run out onto Steinbrenner field for the first time, Nestor said it would likely be an emotional moment for him and the rest of the Rowdies owners and staff.

“I’d imagine it would be pretty emotional,” Nestor said. “It’s been a lot of hard work from a lot of dedicated people to make it happen.”

Milien, Rowdies talking; Burt taking his chance

His absence from the field, but presence at the Tampa Bay Rowdies combine, had led some to speculate that former University of Tampa All-American Pascal Milien was one of the players the Rowdies had already signed to become part of their inaugural season.

But while Milien said he and his people and the Rowdies are talking, nothing is definite yet.

“We’re working on something right now, so we’ll just wait and see how everything’s going to be going,” Milien said. “Those guys saw me play at the MLS combine, and I have a little ankle injury, and I don’t want to make it worse, so that’s why (I’m not playing).”

Milien said he would love to stay in Tampa, though.

“It would be really, really exciting because this is my hometown, pretty much,” Milien said. “This is where I go to school, 45 minutes away from where I went to high school. Nice, beautiful weather in Florida, so I would love to stay here.”

TAKING HIS CHANCE: The first combine the Rowdies held in Tampa didn’t go well for St. Petersburg’s Chad Burt. Injured on the opening day, he didn’t get much opportunity to impress General Manager Perry Van Der Beck.

This time around, Burt is making the most of his chance. He has played well for the first two days, and picked up a goal on Wednesday while going close with another pair of opportunities.

“My legs are getting a little tired,” Burt said. “I played a little bit more simple today defensively, and it was great to get the goal. Make it a little easier on me and my teammates.”

Burt had bags of ice strapped to his calves after the game to help cool as the afternoon sun appeared to take its toll on a lot of players. His Yellow ‘B’ squad, after a shaky first 15 minutes, settled down and played well for the final 15 minutes of the first period and the opening 15 of the second before the game slowed.

“When the game starts, it was all very tight, you’ve got everyone flying around,” Burt said. “When the game settled down we got a little more possession out of the back. It’s a lot easier when you’re moving the ball instead of having everyone flying around at 100 miles-per-hour, but I felt like after that first 15 we got the ball to the players we needed to hold the ball and went from there.”

SCRIMMAGE SUMMARIES: In warmer conditions that Tuesday, the pace of the opening game between the Yellow ‘B’ and Blue ‘A’ teams was pretty frenetic, with the Blue squad getting the better of it as the Yellow side wasn’t as sharp as in its opener. Former USF standout Francisco Aristeguieta moved into the center of midfield for Blue, playing on the top of a triangle with Stanley Nyazamba and Takuya Yamada, and seemed more comfortable there than in the opening game where he had played wide.

Aristeguita almost opened the scoring, in fact, after a nice move down the right was centered to the top of the penalty area where Sean Bucker layed it off to Aristeguieta for a drive, only for former University of Tampa All-American Ryan Thompson to tip the shot over the crossbar.

But then the Yellow squad found its rhythm, led by midfielder Alan Sanchez and defender Otto Loewy, who had an excellent game at the back. That led to a pair of chances for Chad Burt, the first beautifully turned aside by Blue goalkeeper Dan Williams, but the second finding the back of the net.

Burt then saw his curling shot from just outside the penalty area go over the bar just after the break, while forward Aaron Wheeler also did nice work up top for the blue squad.

The Yellow ‘A’ squad got off to a fast start in their game against the Blue ‘B’ team as a counter-attack was capped by an early goal for Bryan Perez. The Yellow team pursued a more aggressive approach in getting the ball forward, and full back Taylor Lord was impressive not only in defense, but also when he made a good run past two players to set up an attack that led to a good effort on goal by Tyrell Burgess.

The Blue squad was a little more patient in its build-up, with Ryan Maduro from Providence pulling the strings well in midfield and Dwight Barnett again offering good strength and work-rate up front. But as in the opening day, Barnett often didn’t get the support he needed from his midfield, and was left to toil alone.

After the break, with former Chicago Fire draftee and Ridgewood High Richard Jata holding a more prominent role, the Yellow squad did well. They scored their second goal of the game after Jata had his shot from the left parried away, only for the rebound to come to Alex Weekes, who rifled a low shot into the back of the net from 15 yards out.

Rowdies announce final combine schedule

The Tampa Bay Rowdies have announced the schedule for their final player combine, which will begin on Tuesday afternoon at the Ed Radice Sports Complex.

The format is similar to that of the first combine, the principal difference being the start time, with 1 p.m. starts scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday’s sessions. The final day of the combine will begin at 9 a.m.

Tampa Spartans coach Adrian Bush said in a text message his three graduating All-Americans, goalkeeper Ryan Thompson, defender Dan Ingvarsson and midfielder/forward Pascal Milien would be among the 44 players invited to the combine after none were selected at the MLS Draft on Thursday afternoon.

Colleges: UT's Thompson named Division II first team All-American

The University of Tampa’s Ryan Thompson was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of American Performance Subaru Division II All-America team, while teammates Dan Ingvarsson and Pascal Milien were also named to the second team and third team respectively on Saturday night.

Thompson finished his college career with a standout season, finishing with a 0.88 goals against average as the Spartans reached the NCAA Division II Tournament Elite Eight, recording an 83 percent save percentage and four shutouts.

"He was spectacular," Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. "What a lot of people don't know is that for a two-week period of our season he had the swine flu, and he never missed a beat. Had almost a break on his foot where he didn't train for another two-week period, and played against (Florida Tech), which I thought was his best performance of the year, he was really a game-time decsision..

"I think he's hands-down on of the top 'keepers in the country in any classification."

Ingvarsson was also instrumental to the Spartans success, marshalling the center of defense in front of Thompson along with Kyle Williams, and also providing quality play from set pieces, scoring five goals and adding seven assists principally from free kicks.

Milien, who was one of only three players from last year’s All-America team to be named again, was also outstanding. He led the Spartans with 12 goals and 31 points, his pace and skill providing the attack with a creative spark.

"I think it's a compliment to the type of players and people they are," Bush said. "I'm happy to see them get the recognition, I think it's well deserved. Those are three guys that don't come by often. It's tough to find those caliber of players, and those type of people, for your program and I think it's well deserved."

Colleges: Spartans finish No.5, three named to All-South first team

The University of Tampa men have finished the season ranked No.5 in the nation after the final National Soccer Coaches Association of American poll was released, and saw three players named to the NSCAA All-South first team.

Goalkeeper Ryan Thompson, defender Dan Ingvarsson and forward Pascal Milien were honored by the NSCAA, with defender Kyle Williams and midfielder Lister Warren being named to the second team. The Spartans finished the season 17-3-1, and were ranked in the Top 10 for the duration of the season.

Also named to the All-South team were Saint Leo midfielder Bruce Cutler and Eckerd midfielder Anthony Arico and forward Luke Sheekey.

Colleges: Ingvarsson named First Team Division II All-American

The University of Tampa’s Dan Ingvarsson was named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America team, leading a group of four Spartans honored this season.

Ingvarsson provided not only stability in the center of the Spartans defense with Kyle Williams, but was also a key to the Spartans offense with his free kicks. Ingvarsson scored five goals, and added seven assists, primarily from set pieces as the Spartans reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II tournament.

Also honored were forward Pascal Milien, who was named to the second team after leading the Spartans with 12 goals and 31 points for the season, and Lister Warren, who had 11 goals to be named to the third team. Goalkeeper Ryan Thompson, who was previously named the Sunshine State Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, was an honorable mention.

Colleges: Spartans hopes for Final Four return dashed

The University of Tampa’s bid for back-to-back Division II Tournament Final Four appearances came to an end on Saturday night as the No.10 Spartans fell to No.9 Lees-McRae 1-0 in Banner Elk, N.C.

The goal came on the first real attack of the night, as Bobcats midfielder Jamie Bladen fired a shot from 30 yards out that caught the underside of the crossbar and went into the net in the second minute.

“I don’t look for it, but if it is a chance to shoot I am confident I can hit the target and test the keeper,” Bladen said. “It is a team game. I might have scored the goal, but it is a team game. We are glad we made it to the final four, but our goal is to win it (the NCAA Tournament).”

The Spartans had difficulty countering the early strike as the Bobcats defense did well to restrict the Spartans scoring opportunities. Pascal Milien and Lister Warren only had one shot apiece, and the Spartans only forced Lees-McRae goalkeeper Sean Paradise into a pair of saves on the night.

Spartans coach Adrian Bush said he as the Spartans squad was disappointed, but gave the Bobcats credit for an outstanding defensive performance.

“I give Lees-McRae a lot of credit, and I think they are a fantastic team and very well coached,” Bush said. “I think it was a game played in the middle third and outside of Bladen’s shot for the goal, I think both teams defended very well. I think (Lees-McRae) will represent the South very well in the Final Four, and we have nothing to be ashamed of on our side. Hopefully they will come back with a championship.”

The Spartans will see five starters graduate from the side this season, with Pascal Milien, Dan Ingvarsson, Kyle Williams, Ryan Thompson and Zach Fraser moving on. Bush said he was grateful to have had those five players be a part of the Spartans program.

“My heart goes out to this senior class as I know they gave our program and university their heart and soul for four years,” Bush said. “All of them are great soccer players but to see their growth as people off the field is something I feel blessed to be a part of.”

The Bobcats will now come to Tampa, and face Lewis on Dec. 3 in the Final Four. The other two teams headed to Tampa will be decided on Sunday as Le Moyne faces Southern (N.H.) in one Elite Eight contest and defending Division II champion Cal-State Dominguez Hills facing Fort Lewis in the other.

College Matchday: No.10 Tampa at No.9 Lees-McRae

WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m., Banner Elk, N.C.

NEED TO KNOW: The University of Tampa will try to return to the NCAA Division II Final Four for the second consecutive season as the Spartans travel to face Lees-McRae.

The Bobcats are led by Berin Boracic, who was named the Southeast Region Player of the Year on Tuesday after scoring 15 goals and adding eight assists this season. The Bobcats also saw defenders Luke Duffy and Dale Parker and goalkeeper Sean Paradise named to the Southeast first team, an indicator of the strength the Bobcats possess at the back.

Tampa’s Pascal Milien will be the key player charged with breaking down that defense for the Spartans. Milien has been spectacular this season, scoring 12 goals and adding seven assists, using his speed and skill to break down opposing defenses. He has been ably assisted by Lister Warren, who has added 11 goals, and Greg O’Connor, who has recorded seven assists. Also with seven assists is Dan Ingvarsson, who will likely play a critical role in trying to close down Boracic, and also in creating chances for the Spartans from set pieces.

College Matchday: No.10 Tampa at No.5 Rollins

WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m., Cahall-Sandspur Field

NEED TO KNOW: Tampa will try to earn a little revenge on the only team to defeat it in the regular season as it tries to advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament South Region final against Rollins.

Rollins won the first meeting 3-2, the Tars jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the Spartans rally through goals by Dan Ingvarsson and Greg O’Connor fell short. The Tars subsequently lost twice, both to Barry, but earned their revenge for those defeats with a 1-0 win against the Buccaneers in Friday’s 1-0 overtime victory, Daniel Salazar scoring the only goal with just over three minutes to play before the game went to a shootout.

Tampa will look to make a far better start than they did in their first game against the Tars, as they were able to in their 3-1 win against Lynn on Friday. Pascal Milien gave the Spartans an eighth-minute lead against the Fighting Knights, and while Lynn tied the game 11 minutes later, Jordan Moses soon restored the lead before Chris O’Brien added a late insurance goal.

The winner of Sunday’s game will face the winner of Lees-McRae and Anderson (S.C.), who also play Sunday at 2 p.m.

Colleges: Spartans move into South Region semifinals

Pascal Milien and Jordan Moses scored first-half goals as the University of Tampa moved into the South Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division II Men's Tournament with a 3-1 victory against Lynn.

“Very pleased,” Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. “It’s just a step further, a step closer to our goal. Sunday isn’t going to be an easy game by any means, but I’m very happy.”

Milien gave the Spartans the lead in the eighth minute, but the Fighting Knights hit back 11 minutes later as Paolo Vaz made the score 1-1. Moses restored the Spartans’ lead in the 29th minute, turning the ball home after Dan Ingvarsson had hit the crossbar and Lister Warren had a pair of shots blocked.

“It was a fantastic rebound,” Bush said. “There was probably thre or four that were initially blocked, and Jordan got in under control and just buried it. A great goal from him, and he’s a guy who started off injured, and he’s really starting to come into his own now. I’m really happy for him for what he did, he was outstanding tonight.”

The Spartans controlled good portions of the game, and that led to some frustrations for Lynn, which had six players shown yellow cards during the game. Bush said he thought the key to the game was the Spartans’ preparation that allowed them to make the correct adjustment to anything the Fighting Knights threw at them.

“They really went out an executed perfectly,” Bush said. “We talked about three or four different scenarios, if Lynn did this, how would we counter, and we were ready for anything they threw at us, and I think that was the difference in the game.”

Milien went close to extending the Spartans lead in the 64th minute as his fierce left-footed shot from just outside the penalty area came back off the post after he had cut in from the right side, but Tampa put the game away in the final minute as Chris O’Brien scored off a rebound of Milien’s initial shot.

The end of their season caused emotions to spill over for Lynn’s players, of whom two, Gabe Taboada and Christian Donert, were shown red cards after the game ended.

The Spartans will now face host Rollins on Sunday at 1 p.m. after the Tars defeated Barry 1-0 in overtime in the second game of the evening.

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.

College Matchday: Barry at No.8 Tampa

WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m., Pepin-Rood Stadium

NEED TO KNOW: The University of Tampa will try to win its second Sunshine State Conference tournament title when it takes on Barry. The Spartans previously won the title in 2007, and enter Sunday’s final as the favorite after their 3-0 victory against Nova Southeastern in Friday’s semifinal.

Lister Warren continued his recent run of form against the Sharks, and has now scored five goals in the last two goals. That has him tied with Pascal Milien for the team lead in goals, as both now have 11. The Spartans earned a 2-1 victory over the Buccaneers in their prior meeting this season, Brian Fekete and Milien scoring the goals for the Spartans on that occasion.

The Buccaneers advanced to the final with a 1-0 win against No.1 seed Rollins on Friday, the goal coming with just under three minutes to play. The Buccaneers are the only side to defeat the Tars this season, earning victory in the regular season in addition to Friday’s victory. The Spartans will need to watch out for Mark Anderson, who has scored 15 goals in 19 games this season.

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: Spartans appreciate honors, but focused on Sharks

TAMPA – While the individual accolades seven of the No.8-ranked University of Tampa’s players received on Thursday were appreciated, it didn’t take any focus away from the task the Spartans face on Friday night against Nova Southeastern in the semifinals of the Sunshine State Conference tournament at Pepin-Rood Stadium.

“We’ve had accolades, four guys All-American last year, and I think as a group we’ve been pretty humble about the things that come our way,” Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. “We recognize that it’s a great accomplishment for those guys, but in the big scheme of things we’re more worried about our group success as a team, and I think in the end if you’re to win a championship, that’s more important than any individual accolade.”

Ryan Thompson echoed his coach. Now a two-time SSC Defensive Player of the Year, the Spartans senior goalkeeper is more concerned with picking up silverware in December than in November.

“It’s good,” Thompson said, “but at the end of the day if you don’t have that ring, it doesn’t matter, it means nothing.”

The Spartans appeared relaxed as they worked out on Thursday afternoon. Bush said he thought that came from the experience the older players in his side had, and that their influence was rubbing off on the younger players in the squad.

“We’ve been in this situation the last three years we’ve been in the conference semifinal, the last two years, now three years, we’re going to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Bush said. “We returned every one of our guys that experienced the final four last year, so the experience is very good, I think it really helps the younger guys to stay relaxed, to maintain their focus on understanding what this really is. There’s a lot of times where you can get caught up in this stuff.”

And that’s the last thing the Spartans want to do against a Nova Southeastern squad that already pulled one upset. The No.6-seed Sharks defeated No.3-seed Lynn in a penalty shootout after the teams played to a 2-2 tie on Tuesday, and Thompson is expecting a tough battle.

“Any team on any given day can defeat any other team,” Thompson said, “so we personally know that Nova is a very good team, and we’re not going to take them lightly. We’re going to come and play them the same way we play every other team in this conference.”

In their previous meeting this season, the Spartans jumped on the Sharks early, Lister Warren scoring twice as Tampa romped to a 6-1 victory. Pascal Milien said that the biggest thing will be for the Spartans to come out as strongly as they did in that game to put their stamp on the game.

“The last time we played against them, we came out strong and ready to play, and that’s the reason why we won the game,” Milien said. “They didn’t expect that, they have a good team, but we came out as a team strong and ready to win, and that’s what happened. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be focused the same way. I’m pretty sure it’ll be a good game.”

Colleges: Warren leads No.9 Spartans rout of Lions

TAMPA – For 45 minutes, Saint Leo’s men’s soccer team was able to play with the No.9-ranked University of Tampa.

Then, in a 15 minute span to start the second half, the Spartans were incisive with their play, and decisive with their finishing.

Lister Warren recorded a hat trick as Tampa scored four times in the opening 16 minutes of the second half on its way to a 5-1 victory on Thursday night at Pepin-Rood Stadium that sealed a share of the Sunshine State Conference regular season title.

The rout took shape in the 49th minute, when Karl Swan won a challenge in midfield, the ball deflecting to Warren in the center circle. Warren looked up and saw Swan had continued to move forward, and he slotted a pass into the right channel to find the midfielder, and Swan finished low into the left corner of the net to put the Spartans up 2-0.

Warren scored his second goal of the night seven minutes later as a long cross from the left by Brian Fekete was headed down by Greg O’ Connor, and Warren lifted his volley over the advancing goalkeeper and into the net.

Zach Fraser then created Warren’s hat trick in the 57th minute, stealing the ball in Saint Leo’s half before sending an excellent cross from the right side into the penalty area, finding an unmarked Warren for a free header into the left corner of the net.

O’Connor made it 5-0 three minutes later as he broke the Lions offside trap on a through ball by Pascal Milien, and made no mistake with his finish.

“We weren’t happy with a lot of the stuff that was going on in the first half, and give Saint Leo credit, I think they did a good job,” Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. “I think they really came out with emotion, and that’s what we talked about, and I’m very pleased with how we responded in the second half against a good team.”

Warren had opened the scoring in the 20th minute, finishing a move that saw Milien drive down the right flank before crossing into the penalty area to O’Connor. Warren created an overlap on the left side of the penalty area, and after receiving a pass from O’Connor finished strongly.

Warren paid tribute to his teammates for their creation of the chances he was afforded.

“It’s all about the team,” Warren said. “I scored the goals, but I give credit to the person who passed the ball in. It’s always a team game.”

Milien in particular was excellent, using his pace and skill to create opportunities for his teammates and himself. While he wasn’t able to find the back of the net, it wasn’t for lack of trying as he had 13 of the Spartans 30 shots, seven of which were on target.

“He was active, we really went after him, talked at half time with him about being more active,” Bush said. “He’s a game-changer. Pascal is one of the top players in the country, and I think he showed it tonight. I think it’s unfortunate he didn’t get a goal, but if you look at the production of what he did, it’s not just about scoring goals. He was one of the men of the match definitely tonight.”

Saint Leo pulled a consolation goal back late, a poor free kick by Tampa allowing Odyss Economides to find Jonathan Glenn for a 84th minute goal, but the goal was the only shot on goal the Lions managed in the second half as they were outshot 21-2 after the break by the Spartans.

Tampa had already received good news before the game began, as Rollins won the women’s SSC regular season title. As such, while the Rollins men were in line to host the SSC final four as the No.1 seed, SSC regulations don’t allow the men’s and women’s tournament to be held at the same location. That means the Spartans will host the SSC Men’s Tournament, where they will face the winner of Lynn and Nova Southeastern next Friday.

Warren said he was looking forward to try and win an SSC title on the Spartans’ home field.

“Home advantage is always a positive,” Warren said. “You have the crowd, you are familiar with the turf and everything. Let’s hope we come out the victors.”

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.9 Spartans hit Sharks for six

Lister Warren scored twice in the first half, and Greg Sasser scored his first two goals of the season in the second as No.9 Tampa romped past Nova Southeastern 6-1 at the NSU Soccer Complex on Wednesday night.

Warren gave the Spartans the lead in the 15th minute before Greg O’Connor scored his second of the season two minutes later, driving home a shot from just outside the penalty area.

Warren added his second on the half-hour mark as the Spartans completely controlled the first half, allowing the Sharks only two shots on goal.

NSU did find the net just before the hour mark, Romain Onteniente heading home from Tim Taylor’s corner, but the Spartans regained their three-goal advantage when Pascal Milien scored in the 70th minute.

Sasser, brought on as a substitute for Warren, then scored twice in the final five minutes to complete the rout.

Tampa remains on the road this weekend as it travels to face Florida Tech at 4 p.m. on Saturday before closing the regular season with a pair of home games against Johnson and Wales and Saint Leo.

Colleges: No.9 Tars hand No.2 Spartans first defeat

A pair of late first half goals, and another early in the second, put a major dent in the University of Tampa’s Sunshine State Conference title hopes as No.9 Rollins remained undefeated with a 3-2 defeat of the No.2 Spartans at Cahall-Landspur Field on Friday night.

The loss was Tampa’s first of the season, and they would now need the Tars to slip up in one of their final two games against Barry or Florida Southern in order to try and claim a share of the title.

Tampa (10-1-1, 4-1-0 SSC) opened well, as both Lister Warren and Pascal Milien were denied goals by Rollins goalkeeper Aaron Rokeach within the first 10 minutes. While Tampa controlled the flow of the game, though, it didn’t prevent the Tars from finding opportunities, and they finally took advantage in the 40th minute as a long-range effort by Jacob DeLoach screamed into the right side of the net.

The Tars (14-0-1) doubled their advantage just three minutes later, as J.D. Gruenewald scored his team-high ninth goal of the season, his shot eluding Tampa goalkeeper Ryan Thompson before creeping over the goal line.

Tampa tried to regroup, but Rollins maintained its pressure to start the second half, Thompson making three saves to start the half. The Tars scored again in the 55th minute, though, as DeLoach’s corner found Jack Clifford for a header into the net.

The Spartans responded quickly, as Dan Ingvarsson scored his third goal in two games in the 57th minute. As he had against Eckerd on Tuesday, Ingvarsson bent a free kick into the net from just outside the penalty area.

Tampa continued to try to mount a comeback, and got a second goal through Greg O’Connor to set up a frantic final four minutes. The Spartans were unable to create another opportunity to tie the game, however, sending the capacity crowd into celebration.

College Matchday: No.2 Tampa at No.9 Rollins

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m., Cahall-Sandspur Field

NEED TO KNOW: The Sunshine State Conference regular season title won’t be decided on Friday night, but the match-up between the No.2 Spartans and No.9 Tars will go a long way in determining who takes home the hardware in two weeks.

Both sides enter the match undefeated, Rollins (13-0-1, 5-0-0) having defeated No.19 Lynn 1-0 on Tuesday night through an 83rd minute goal by J.D. Gruenewald. The goal was Gruenewald’s team-leading eighth of the season, to go with nine assists which leads the Tars in both categories. The Tars, though, are far from a one-man show up front. Dennis Chin and Bradley Welch have both tallied six goals, with Stephen Wright adding five as the side has averaged three goals per game.

That is likely to provide a strong test of Tampa’s defense, which did not have its best game against Eckerd on Tuesday night. While the 4-1 win may appear to have been comfortable, Spartans goalkeeper Ryan Thompson had to make a number of outstanding saves to maintain his side’s advantage, and was not happy after the game with the quality of shots the Tritons had been able to create.

On the plus side for the Spartans, Pascal Milien appears to be coming into his best form of the season. Milien has scored eight goals on the season, and while he didn’t find the net on Tuesday, he was integral to the opportunities the Spartans created, beginning the move that led to Dominic Goncalves’ opening goal, and being brought down just outside the penalty area after a strong run which led to Dan Ingvarsson’s free kick that put the Spartans up 3-1.

The Spartans won last year’s contest at Pepin-Rood Stadium 2-0. A similar result tonight could result in the Spartans winning their first regular season title since Coach Adrian Bush took the helm of the program in 2005.