Spartans Advance to SSC Semifinals with Shootout Victory

Box score

TAMPA, Fla. - The defending national champion University of Tampa (12-5-2) women's soccer team played to a 3-3 tie with Florida Tech (11-6-1) and advanced to the Sunshine State Conference tournament semifinals with a 4-1 shootout victory over the Panthers at Pepin Stadium.

Florida Tech accounted for the lone goal of the first half as Ann-Marie Helgestad gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead heading into halftime on a goal off a corner by Dee Dee Nowland. In the first half, UT outshot FIT by a 7-4 mark, including a 3-1 advantage on shots on goal.

Just over nine minutes into the second half, UT freshman Jazmin Perry tied the match at 1-1 on a goal from Brittney Evans. The tie would last only three minutes until Florida Tech's Teresa Brantley scored on a breakaway pass from Sara Lewis at midfield.

Evans would not be denied as the senior from DeLand scored the next two Spartan goals, coming in the 64th and 76th minutes respectively. On the first Evans goal, Marissa Mohammed played the ball to the middle, where Evans headed the ball into the back of the Panther net. Evans then put UT on top on a goal from defender Maria Mohammed.

The Panthers then forced overtime as Lewis scored with just under three minutes remaining in regulation. Megan Stone was credited with the game-tying assist on the score.

Following two scoreless overtimes that totaled 20 minutes of action, the match headed to a shootout to decide the fate of the SSC quarterfinal matchup.

UT leading scorer Shelby Kuni went first in the shootout and pushed the ball past FIT goalkeeper Melissa Pyles. Tampa goalkeeper Kendall Bourdon then went left to turn away Newland's penalty kick. Following a successful kick by Courtney Evans, the Panthers connected on their lone shootout score as Mikaela McKenney notched a goal. UT's Megan Tobin then scored, followed by a missed shot by Brantley. With UT needing either a score or a Florida Tech miss, Maria Mohammed sent the Spartans to the SSC semifinals when she put the ball in the back of the net.

Kendall Bourdon played all 110 minutes in goal for Tampa in the first postseason game of the freshman's career. She finished with five saves while facing 14 shots. She also recorded two crucial saves in the shootout.

UT advances to Friday's semifinal, where it will meet second-seed Florida Southern College on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The semifinal and final matches will all be played in Winter Park with SSC regular season champion Rollins College serving as the host. Sunday's final is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Live stats for each of Tampa's SSC tournament matches will be available through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may also sign up for eScores through the UT website, which is a free service that sends text message alerts on Spartan athletic events.