No. 16 Tampa Plays to Second Straight Tie

Box score

LAKELAND, Fla. - For the second time this week, the No. 16 University of Tampa (11-3-3, 5-1-2 SSC) women's soccer team came away with a tie as it left Florida Southern College (5-6-3, 3-2-2 SSC) with a 1-1 draw in a Sunshine State Conference meeting.

"This is a very disappointing result again after a dominating display," says head coach Gerry Lucey. "We seem to have made a habit of that recently. We haven't shown the killer instinct necessary when presented with golden opportunities."

The Mocs drew first blood in the opening half as Caroline Evers interecepted a ball from the keeper and connected on a 25-yard shot from the left side for the unassisted score in the 27th minute.

UT leading scorer Lauren Moore would even the slate at 1-1 in the 56th minute as the sophomore flicked in a header off a Courtney Peffley corner kick.

"I'm very happy with our attitude and drive at the moment," comments Lucey. "We have a lot of work to get through before the playoffs and hopefully we can hit our stride then."

The Spartans outshot the Mocs 17-5 on the game, including a 7-3 edge in shots on target. UT had a late chance as a Cici Gonzalez shot in the second overtime period bounced off the crossbar.

"Defensively, the back four were outstanding again," states Lucey. "Shannon (Walisch) and Beate (Jaeckel) dominated centrally and both Candice (Shields) and Jess (Frank) were solid."

Kori Butterfield played in goal for UT, registering a pair of saves.

"I'm looking forward to some improvements on Wednesday for senior night," concludes Lucey.

Tampa will return home to face Sunshine State Conference opponent Saint Leo University on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The match will also serve as senior day for three Spartans playing their final regular season match at Pepin Stadium.

Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.