Colleges: Carnegie, Panthers end Lions' season

Saint Leo saw its season come to an end as Florida Tech’s Brittany Carnegie scored a second half goal to give the Panthers a 1-0 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Rollins College in Winter Park.

The win was the Panthers third over the Lions this season, and moves them into the second round against host Rollins on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

“To beat a good team like Saint Leo three times in one season is quite an accomplishment,” Tech head coach Fidgi Haig said. “We came out hungrier tonight, stuck to our plan, stayed composed and came out with a good result. We are all excited to move on and I’m happy for our seniors. Now, we need to put this game behind us and focus on Saturday’s match.”

A defensive mistake in the 61st minute caused the Lions downfall, as Carnegie intercepted a poor pass in the Lions end, putting her in on goal. Saint Leo goalkeeper Cristina Coca saved Carnegie’s initial shot, but Carnegie picked up the rebound, and put it away.

“I’m glad I had the chance to contribute to tonight’s win,” Carnegie said. “I’ve never felt so excited following one of my goals so the feeling is great. It means a lot to us to have an opportunity to face Rollins again. We are looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

The Lions almost answered immediately, but Hannah Beard’s shot was parried by Tech goalkeeper Melissa Pyles, and then went off the post before it was recovered. Beard, who along with Sara Macko and Ana Davila suited up for the final time for the Lions on Thursday, was denied by Pyles again as her header couldn’t find the net with just over two minutes remaining.

Colleges: Lions not ready for season to end yet

It’s been a long season for Saint Leo’s women’s soccer team. Between illness and injury, you could understand if all Ged O’Connor and his squad wanted to do was put it behind them.

But the Lions have one final chance to make the season a memorable one for the right reasons on Thursday night as they open the NCAA Division II Tournament against Florida Tech at 7 p.m. at Rollins College in Winter Park.

“It has definitely been one of those season’s,” O’Connor said on Wednesday, “but we’re going to go there and give it our best shot.”

The Lions injury woes continued last Friday as they fell 4-1 to Rollins in the Sunshine State conference final, losing another player to injury, this time a concussion. But Saint Leo remains optimistic over its chances against the Panthers, who only eked out a 1-0 double-overtime victory when the two team’s faced each other in the regular season.

“No question,” O’Connor said. “We went to their place we had the better of the play, we missed a one-on-one chance with 30 seconds to go, we hit the crossbar, and in the end they scored a pretty decent goal. It’s just a case of making sure we limit our mistakes and if we do that, I don’t think we’re going to have that many issues.”

Lions striker Hannah Beard did give herself and the team something to smile about in the loss to Rollins as she became the leading scorer in Saint Leo history. After a good week of preparation, O’Connor feels his team is ready to spring a surprise.

“No question whatsoever,” O’Connor said. “I think we’ve got to play well, but I think the girls are ready for it.”

Colleges: Spartans mens, Lions women both head to Rollins for NCAA opening rounds

The University of Tampa men and Saint Leo women will both travel to Rollins College for the opening weekend of the NCAA Division II Soccer tournament. Both brackets were revealed on Monday evening.

No.8-ranked Tampa will face a familiar foe Lynn in the opening round of the tournament on Friday at 4:30 p.m., with another pair of SSC teams making up the other half of the bracket as host Rollins takes on SSC champion Barry.

The Spartans defeated the Fighting Knights 2-1 in double-overtime in the regular season. Lynn has struggled a little since that loss, falling in the quarterfinals of the SSC tournament to Nova Southeastern. The Spartans also defeated the Fighting Knights in the NCAA Tournament last season.

"That's what I thought it would be," Spartans coach Adrian Bush said. "I think it was pretty laid out as to what would happen with the criteria set forth and how they determine it. I think the four teams in there are deserving, Rollins is certainly deserving to host. It's a great region, we've got a lot of respect for all of those teams, the only one we're looking at right now is Lynn which is a fantastic team and very well coached, a lot of very good quality players on their program."

Bush added that he believed if Tampa had won the SSC Tournament against Barry on Sunday, the Spartans would have gotten to host the opening two rounds, but that was now water under the bridge, and the team was looking forward.

"We've got to head to Rollins and get a result on Friday to play in the championship on Sunday," Bush said.

The Lions women will also face SSC opposition in the first round, with Florida Tech their opening opponent in the South Region at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Rollins will wait for the winner, earning a first-round bye after their victory at the SSC Women’s Tournament.

The No.15 Panthers defeated Saint Leo 1-0 in double-overtime when they met in the regular season. They fell to Florida Southern 2-0 in the semifinals of the SSC Tournament on Friday in their last contest.

Colleges: Lions fall in SSC semifinals

Saint Leo went into Friday night’s Sunshine State Conference tournament semifinal against Rollins eager to avenge the defeat the Tars had inflicted upon it earlier in the season.

No.1 seed and tournament host Rollins wouldn’t allow that to happen, as the Tars advanced to the final with a 4-1 win on Friday night.

After a tight, defensive opening to the game that saw few scoring chances, Rollins took the lead on the half-hour mark. After Chelsea Brady was brought down in the penalty area, Leah Hirsch had her shot saved by Lions goalkeeper Cristina Coca, but Hirsch followed up to score on the rebound.

The Tars doubled their lead just before halftime, as Jessica Mooney scored after Rachel Jakubowski’s header had been blocked.

The Lions had difficulty finding their rhythm, only managing three shots on goal for the game, as Rollins maintained their control in the second half. Ali Schrader scored in the 76th minute to effectively put the game out of reach for the Tars, and while the Lions pulled a goal back through Pia Soesemann in the 86th minute, Schrader answered almost immediately to kill any thought of a comeback.

Now the Lions will have to wait and see as to what their next opponent will be. Coach Ged O’Connor was confident his sides’ victory against Nova Southeastern would be enough to put the Lions in the NCAA Tournament field, but it will remain to be see what happens on Sunday when the bracket gets announced.

Colleges: Thompson leads Spartans on SSC First Team

The University of Tampa’s Ryan Thompson was named the Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, and was one of four Spartans named to the SSC All-Conference First Team on Thursday afternoon.

Joining Thompson on the first team were forward Pascal Milien, midfielder Lister Warren and defender Dan Ingvarsson as the Spartans had the largest contingent of any school on the first team. Midfielder Ryan Griffin, forward Greg O’Connor and defender Kyle Williams were also named to the second team.

Eckerd’s Luke Sheekey was named to the first team, while Saint Leo’s Jonathan Glenn earned second team honors.

On the women’s side, Saint Leo’s Hannah Beard and Sara Macko were both named to the All-Conference first team, while the Lions’ Francesca Williams and Dari Alcantara were named to the second team and Pia Soesemann was an honorable mention.

Colleges: Lions hoping history repeats itself

This season’s Sunshine State Conference tournament is providing a little more déjà vu for Ged O’ Connor and the Saint Leo women’s soccer team.

After entering the tournament as the No.4 seed, as the Lions did a season ago, they will now travel to Rollins College on Friday night for a semifinal against the No.1-seed Tars, a rematch of last season’s semifinal.

There’s also the fact that last season the Tars defeated the Lions in the regular season, only for the Lions to turn the tables in the tournament on their way to the title. Earlier this season, Rollins earned a 3-2 come-from-behind victory at Saint Leo’s University Field, which would lead one to believe that a repeat of last season’s semifinal could be in the cards.

All Saint Leo forward Hannah Beard knows, though, is that the Lions are eager to get another chance to face the Tars.

“I think we’re just really excited to get a chance to play Rollins again,” Beard said. “I felt like we weren’t at our best when we played them last time because of the swine flu and we hadn’t played. It’s a bit of excitement to see how we can play them when we’re at full strength.”

Saint Leo scored after 69 seconds against Nova Southeastern, Chrissy Darwell finding the back of the net for the Lions, and for the first 15 minutes completely dominated play. But after that, the game developed into the kind of game O’Connor is expecting to face for the rest of the postseason.

“From about the 25-minute mark through the rest of the game, even though we had more chances and everything, it was more of a war, it was more of a battle,” O’Connor said, “I think is the way the rest of our games are going to go, just because of the injuries we’ve got and so on and so on.”

O’Connor doesn’t mind that, because he believes that while his side has enough talent to beat anyone the Lions will face, he also believes that the team’s work-rate will keep them in any game they play.

“I’d rather not play well and fight for 90 minutes than play well with people who aren’t going to go out there and fight,” O’Connor said. “I think we’ve got players out there who will work their socks off every single minute of the game, and to me that’s very, very important.”

The Lions have reached the SSC tournament final each of the past three seasons, in addition to winning the title last year. That has become a source of pride for Beard and the rest of the senior class.

“Definitely,” Beard said. “I think we’ve gotten used to it in a sense, the past few years we’ve always gotten to the final, so it will be seen as a huge let-down if we don’t get there this year.”

As for the key to getting back to the final for a fourth straight season, O’Connor thinks the key to the game will be in midfield, where All-Conference first-teamer Rachel Jabukowski plays a key role for the Tars.

“For Friday, I think it’s all about the midfield,” O’Connor said. “As long as we’re strong down the middle, that’s important, but Friday night is going to be a much more challenging match because their best players are their two center mids, so it’s a case of us having to negate their players and I’m sure we’re going to do a good job of that.”

Colleges: Darwell's early goal lifts Lions into SSC semis

Chrissy Darwell’s goal 69 seconds into the game proved to be the only one of the game as Saint Leo advanced into the semifinals of the Sunshine State Conference tournament with a 1-0 victory against Nova Southeastern on Tuesday night at University Field.

Ana Davila began the move for the Lions, finding Hannah Beard on the left side of the penalty area. Beard turned her defender, and played the ball back to Darwell, who struck a shot into the opposite corner of the goal.

The Lions continued to press forward to try and add to their lead, Darwell finished with five shots, but were unable to find the net again. That wouldn’t come back to haunt them, though, as the Lions defense allowed only one shot on goal as Cristina Coca earned her third shutout of the season.

The Lions will now face tournament host and No.1-seed Rollins in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Lions lost 3-2 to the Tars on Sept. 23rd, twice holding a lead before goals by Elise Spearing and Charlotte Murrell gave Rollins victory.

Colleges: Using last season as guide, Lions look for SSC title

SAINT LEO – Saint Leo’s women have been here before. Last year, as it happens.

Then, the No.4-seeded Lions made a remarkable run to the Sunshine State Conference tournament championship.

Now, the No.4-seeded Lions are looking to do the same thing, beginning when they face No.5 seed Nova Southeastern at University Field on Tuesday night. It’s a task that Coach Ged O’Connor and his side are looking forward to.

“This is the fun time of the year, because you know every game you’re going to play is going to be a tough one,” O’Connor said.

In the past three seasons, the Lions have risen to that challenge. Including last year’s title, they have been to the SSC tournament final in each of the past three seasons. Before last season, the Lions had been the No.2 seed twice, earning a bye in the first round and advancing automatically into the semifinals. O’Connor, though, is happy to have an extra game at home.

“In a way, I’d rather finish third or fourth than finish second in the conference,” O’Connor said. “Both Rollins and Florida Tech have got over a week off, because we had to have last weekend free. That’s a long time without playing. It’s hard to stay match-fit.”

Saint Leo won 3-1 on the road when the two teams played in the penultimate game of the Lions regular season. Hannah Beard scored twice in that contest, and O’Connor said he will need Beard and center back Francesca Williams to be at their best if they Lions are to move on to face Rollins on Friday.

A bigger key, though, may be for the Lions to erase the defensive mistakes that have allowed opponents easy scoring opportunities, a trait that has bedeviled the Lions so far this season.

“If we continue to allow mistakes, it’s going to cost us,” O’Connor said. “We’ve got good enough players going forward between Pia (Soesemann), Chrissy (Darwell), Hannah and (Sara) Macko, we’ve got some damn, damn good players going forward, but I don’t know how many goals we’ve given up this year, but I’d be surprised if more than 20 percent were because of great play by the other team.”

If the Lions can fix that, though, O’Connor sees no reason why his side can’t win a second straight title.

“I think there’s a little bit of confidence, especially because they know what happened last year,” O’Connor said. “I’m not scared of any of those teams.”

Colleges: Spartans, Lions have travelled different paths

TAMPA – As they meet to end the regular season at Pepin-Rood Stadium tonight at 7 p.m., it can easily be said that the seasons of the University of Tampa and Saint Leo men’s soccer teams have taken vastly different paths.

Tampa is currently ranked No.9 in the nation, has only lost once, and while it faces a tough road to get there should certainly be considered one of the favorites to advance to the NCAA Division II Final Four. The Spartans can earn a share of the Sunshine State Conference regular season title with a victory, something Coach Adrian Bush is happy about.

“Anytime you can close out the conference with a win before your final stretch of conference tournament and playoffs is good,” Bush said.

Saint Leo has gone the other way. After a 5-3 record in the SSC last season, the Lions cannot make the SSC tournament this year having only won twice in seven conference games entering Thursday night’s game.

Illness has affected the program for the whole season, with Coach Joel Harrison not knowing at times how many players he would have available on a day-to-day basis. The Lions appeared to be getting on the right track after putting together three straight wins at the beginning of October, including one over then No.14-ranked Lynn, but a pair of defeats to Barry and Nova Southeastern have left the side knowing tonight will be their final game of the season.

“It’s been frustrating, and all kind of things, it’s hard to put it into words,” Harrison said. “I don’t know if its hit us harder than anyone else, but I think our guys have still come out and worked hard and tried to do their best, and that’s all we can ask of them, you know, regardless of who’s healthy an who’s not to go out and compete and hopefully eventually things will start to pay off for us.”

Bush has little to no sympathy for what Saint Leo has gone through, noting that his side, and most sides, face similar adversity during a season.

"That's what you carry extra players on your team for," Bush said. "Every team goes through injuries, and if they want to make an excuse of a flu going through their team, I don't think there's a team in the country that hasn't experienced that.

"So they can sit there and pin-point excuses all they want, hopefully they're healthy now, and we'll see what their excuse is tomorrow."

The Spartans are certainly confident of earning victory. Spartans center back Dan Ingvarsson believes if his teammates take care of outworking the Lions, everything else will take care of itself.

“I know we’re a better soccer team,” Spartans center back Dan Ingvarsson said. “The only thing they can beat us at is work-rate, and if we bring the work-rate, there’s no way we can lose.”

Colleges: Lions earn victory, end Spartans' season

Saint Leo’s women ended the University of Tampa’s season as Sara Macko scored one goal and assisted on another to give the Lions a 2-1 victory at Pepin-Rood Stadium on Wednesday night.

The loss eliminated the Spartans from contention for the Sunshine State Conference, as Lynn’s 2-0 victory against Barry earned the Fighting Knights the No.6 and final seed in the tournament.

Macko gave Saint Leo the lead in the ninth minute, firing home a shot from the left side of the penalty area after picking up a cross by Francesca Williams. The goal was Macko’s eighth of the season.

Tampa tied the game before halftime, a poor clearance by the Lions’ defense coming to Megan Tobin, who capitalized on the error to score her third goal of the season, leaving the game even at the break.

Chrissy Darwell broke the tie in the 69th minute, though, as she headed home from Macko’s corner kick.

Had it won, Tampa would have earned the No.6 spot in the SSC tournament thanks to its 2-1 victory against Lynn earlier in the season. As it is, the Spartans young squad will return the bulk of its players for next season, with only Saige Steinmetz and Renta Figuera graduating from this year’s squad.

The No.4 seed Lions will next host No.5 seed Nova Southeastern in the opening round of the SSC tournament on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. After winning the conference tournament title a season ago as the No.4 seed, the Lions will try to make a repeat run this season.

College Women's Matchday: Saint Leo at Tampa

WHEN: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Pepin-Rood Stadium

NEED TO KNOW: Tampa will look to make the Sunshine State Conference tournament, while Saint Leo will try to end the regular season with a second straight victory when they face each other tonight.

The Spartans could finish sixth in the Sunshine State Conference standings with a victory. The Spartans would also need either a victory by Lynn against Barry or a tie between the two sides on Wednesday night, which would allow the Spartans to earn the No.6 seed. Should Barry win, the Buccaneer’s win against the Spartans would give it the tiebreaker for the No.6 seed. The Spartans are currently on a three-game losing streak that continued with a 3-0 loss for Florida Tech on Saturday night.

The Lions are already confirmed as the No.4 seed in the SSC tournament, where they will face Nova Southeastern in the opening round. The Lions defeated the Sharks in their last outing, posting a 3-1 victory behind a pair of goals by Hannah Beard, who leads the team with 12 on the season.

Colleges: Late goal sinks Lions hopes

Saint Leo’s Bruce Cutler scored twice to rally the Lions back from a two-goal deficit, but a goal in the 82nd minute by Craig Heenighan, his second of the game, gave Nova Southeastern a 3-2 victory on Saturday night.

The Sharks came out sharply, and their early pressure told in the 19th minute as Heenighan found Romain Onteniente in the penalty area for a goal from 10 yards out. The Lions were able to withstand the pressure for the rest of the first half, but Heenighan doubled the lead within a minute of the start of the second half, driving a shot home from 20 yards out on the right side.

The Lions got back on even terms before the game reached the hour mark, Jesper Otterstedt finding Cutler just outside the penalty area, and Cutler driving his shot into the net in the 52nd minute. Cutler then converted a 59th minute penalty kick to tie the game up.

With the momentum turned, the Lions continued to pressure the Sharks goal. Otterstedt, Cutler and Leonardo Nogueira all had efforts saved by NSU goalkeeper Lyle Howe, but it was the Sharks who found the game-winner, Heenighan scoring from 25 yards out on the Sharks first shot in 20 minutes.

The loss leaves the Lions eighth in the SSC standings, and with the prospect of closing out the season against No.9 Tampa at Pepin-Rood Stadium on Thursday night.

College Matchday: Saint Leo at Nova Southeastern

WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m., NSU Soccer Complex

NEED TO KNOW: With a week off after their defeat to Barry, the Lions will face a Nova Southeastern side that has struggled defensively this season.

The Sharks are coming off a 6-1 drubbing by Tampa earlier this week, and gave up seven to Lynn in mid-September. Currently on a three-game losing streak, and having lost five out of their last six, the Sharks only win in October came in a 1-0 win against Eckerd.

The Lions will look to take advantage of the Sharks defensive frailty, with Jonathan Glenn having scored eight goals in 13 games and Leonardo Nogueira adding four goals. Prior to their loss to Barry last Saturday, the Lions had won three games in a row, and will look to post a victory before their regular-season ending trip to rival Tampa.

College Women's Matchday: Saint Leo at Nova Southeastern

WHEN: Saturday, 5 p.m., NSU Soccer Complex

NEED TO KNOW: The Lions will try to move ahead of the Sharks in the Sunshine State Conference standings when the two teams meet. Both sides have won three games in conference play so far, with NSU having earned one point more thanks to a tie against Rollins.

The Sharks (6-5-1, 3-3-1 SSC) fell 3-1 in their last outing against Florida Tech, and conclude their SSC schedule with Saturday’s game. NSU has spread its scoring around, with three players, Elizabeth Brauher, Aubrey Fondy and Alexis Hernandez, each scoring three goals this season.

The Lions (6-4-1, 3-3-0), on the other hand, have had Hannah Beard as a consistent scoring threat. The senior has scored 10 goals in 10 games for the Bulls, adding a pair of assists. Thanks to that, and the performances of Pia Soesemann (seven goals) and Sara Macko (six), the Lions have averaged four goals per game for the season, including 2.67 in conference play.

Colleges: Lions fall to late goal against No.17 Panthers

Florida Tech’s Teresa Brantley scored in the 18th minute of overtime to give the No.17 Panthers a 1-0 victory, and a season sweep, over Saint Leo at Rick Stottier Field on Tuesday evening.

Kelli Ragan’s pass found Brantley just inside the penalty area, and the forward made a quick move before chipping the ball into the net from 15 yards out. It was Brantley’s 10th goal of the season, and gave the Panthers their 12th victory of the season, setting a new school record.

“I was really frustrated with my play in the beginning of the game so it feels great to help the team earn a win,” Brantley said. “We battled throughout the match and were determined to win. It’s nice to get our 12th victory, but we still have three games ahead of us that we need to concentrate on.”

Both sides had fought to break the deadlock until that point, as Saint Leo’s Cristina Coca had made six saves and Florida Tech’s Melissa Pyles four to keep the game scoreless.

Florida Tech had defeated Saint Leo 4-2 on Oct. 3, and Coach Fidgi Haig was happy to have earned a pair of victories over the Lions in the regular season.

To win two games in one season against a strong team like Saint Leo is not something I imagined at the beginning of the season,” Haig said. “The way we battled and scored that final goal shows a lot of character that I’m sure we will use down the road. The defense and midfield played tremendously. It was good to see Teresa (Brantley) give us another strong effort and make things happen.

“Our 12th win does not mean anything right now. We have more important games ahead of us. We need to start focusing on our next match and reflect on what we have accomplished down the road.”

Saint Leo closes the regular season with a pair of SSC games on the road, travelling to face Nova Southeastern on Saturday afternoon.

College Women's Matchday: Saint Leo at No.17 Florida Tech

WHEN: Tuesday, 4 p.m., Rick Stottier Field

NEED TO KNOW: The Lions begin a final three-game road stint to end the season at No.17 Florida Tech, looking to rebound from a 4-1 defeat to Florida Southern on Saturday night.

In an oddity on the schedule, this is a non-conference conference game. The Panthers and Lions already met in their scheduled conference meeting this season, Florida Tech taking a 4-2 victory at University Field on Oct. 3 Seniors Teresa Brantley and Melissa Pyles took both of the conferences Players of the Week awards, Brantley winning the Offensive Player of the Week award for the second time this season.

The Lions had been on a three-game winning streak before Saturday’s setback, and will be looking for revenge after their defeat earlier in the season. That encounter saw Lions defender Dari Alcantara sent off for a pair of yellow cards, and the Lions fail to find their game consistently against a strong Panthers line-up, who held a 2-1 halftime lead, and expanded it to 4-1 before Hannah Beard pulled one back late.

Colleges: Buccaneers too much for Lions

Three second half goals, including two in the final 25 minutes, moved Barry’s winning streak to six games, snapping Saint Leo’s three-game winning streak in the process as the Buccaneers defeated the Lions 3-1 on Saturday night at Buccaneer Field.

After a scoreless opening half, the Buccaneers (10-4-1, 4-2-0 SSC) took the lead four minutes after the break as Mark Anderson scored his 14 goals of the season. Anderson picked up a pass at the top of the penalty area, eluded his defender and slid a shot under Lions goalkeeper Erik Mozzo from 12 yards out.

Saint Leo was able to respond in the 63rd minute a shot by Bruce Cutler forcing a corner kick. Cutler’s corner was headed to the top of the penalty area, where Viktor Wicknor controlled and fired a shot that found its way through traffic in the penalty area in into the back of the net.

The Lions (6-7-0, 2-4-0) weren’t on level terms for long, though, as the Buccaneers restored their lead back three minutes later. From a Buccaneers corner, the ball came to Randy Taylor, whose deflected shot from just outside the penalty area made it 2-1.

Barry added an insurance goal with 12 minutes to play as Sascha Koettig bundled the ball home after the Lions failed to clear a long ball into their penalty area.

The Lions have a week before they return to competitive action, travelling to face Nova Southeastern on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Colleges: Moccasins rally past Lions, pull away late

Goals shortly before and after the halftime break erased Saint Leo’s first half lead and allowed Florida Southern to take another step towards a Sunshine State Conference title as the Moccasins won 4-1 at University Field on Saturday night.

Pia Soesemann had given the Lions the lead in the 35th minute on her seventh goal of the season. Sara Macko found Soesemann just outside the penalty area, and the German standout fired her shot home from 18 yards.

Saint Leo (6-3-1, 3-3-0 SSC) had a chance to extend their lead shortly after, Aija Bent-Trinder’s header from a corner going wide, but shortly after the Moccasins tied the game as Alex Hoover’s cross found Renee Hiscock for a header in the 43rd minute.

Florida Southern (10-5-1, 6-1-0) then took the lead in the 48th minute, Hanna Jansson’s long-range shot finding the back of the net. Saint Leo tried to rally, but the Moccasins defense did well to restrict Hannah Beard and the Lions attack, blocking a pair of shots as goalkeeper Martina Tangen had to make only one second half save.

Florida Southern then put the game away with a pair of goals within a minute, Princess Haley scoring her ninth of the season before Alex Hoover scored the Moccasins’ fourth.

Florida Southern now has almost two weeks off before what could be a championship decider against Rollins on Oct. 29. The Lions will try to regroup as they travel to face Florida Tech on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.

College Matchday: Saint Leo at Barry

WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m., Buccaneer Field

NEED TO KNOW: Two teams riding solid winning streaks face off in Miami Shores in a mid-table Sunshine State Conference clash.

The Lions have turned their form around in the last three games, including a 3-1 win against Florida Southern on Wednesday that saw them score twice in the first four minutes to take hold of the game. Jonathan Glenn and Leonardo Nogueira have been integral to the Lions recent success, Nogueira scoring the game-winning goal in the Lions upset of then No.14 Lynn and also finding the net against the Moccasins.

The Buccaneers currently sit third in the SSC standings, and can boost their seeding for the SSC tournament if they extend a five-game winning streak that has included routs in their past two victories. Barry defeated non-conference opponents St. Thomas 5-0 and Johnson and Wales 6-0 over the past eight days. Mark Anderson had three goals in those two games, and leads the Buccaneers with 13 goals.

College Women's Matchday: Florida Southern at Saint Leo

WHEN: Saturday, 7 p.m., University Field

NEED TO KNOW: The Lions will look to continue their run of form against a Florida Southern team that is in contention for the Sunshine State Conference title. Saint Leo has won three straight games, including a 1-0 victory against Barry in its last time out.

After suffering major setbacks early in the season with injury and illness, the Lions appear to have found the rhythm they have been in search of. The trio of Hannah Beard, Sara Macko and Pia Soesemann have been critical to this, with Beard leading the team with 10 goals in nine games. Macko and Soesemann have added six goals apiece as the Bulls have scored 39 goals this season.

Florida Southern drew with Montevallo (Ga.) in their last outing on Tuesday, as former Newsome High standout Morgan Sammons continued her recent run of form with her fifth goal of the season. Princess Haley and Kerri-Ann Brown lead the Moccasins with eight goals apiece, and the key to the game could be who gets on the board first. Both Saint Leo and Florida Southern have scored more goals in the first half than the second this season.