#10 Spartans Oust Lynn In Regional Semifinal 3-1

WINTER PARK, Fla. - In a physical NCAA South Regional semifinal matchup, the No. 10 University of Tampa men's soccer team took down No. 18 Lynn University 3-1 to push the Spartans (16-2-1) into the regional final on Sunday afternoon. It is the third time in three years that Tampa has turned away the Fighting Knights (14-4-1) in postseason play and is the sixth time in the teams' last eight meetings that the Spartans have come out on top.

Tampa got on the board first in the eighth minute when leading goal scorer Pascal Milien took a shot unassisted past Lynn's Alessandro Salvatore. Just over 10 minutes later, the Fighting Knights responded with a goal from Paolo Vaz off two connecting passes by Scott Gordon and Kyle Conrad.

After several blocked shots in the 29th minute, junior Jordan Moses put the ball in the back of the net to give the Spartans the lead going into the half.

"I thought our payers did a fantastic job with our adjustments," Tampa head coach Adrian Bush said. "We understand this is just one step closer to our goal."

The second half saw scoreless back-and-forth play for much of the period until a long pass from Ryan Griffin met Milien downfield. Milien shot and the rebound found junior Chris O'Brien who scored his first career goal as a Spartan to put the game away with less than a minute remaining.

Six yellow cards were issued to the Fighting Knights during the match and three to the Spartans. At the final whistle, two red cards were also issued to Lynn players as tension mounted.

"The difference tonight was our discipline and that is what I'm proud of-the class our players showed from the opening whistle until the end," Bush continued. "It's a good win, but we know Sunday will be bigger than today."

Ryan Thompson made five saves in goal for Tampa, while Salvatore finished with two.

The Spartans will face off against the winner of first-seed and host Rollins and fourth-seed Barry on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Winter Park. Fans can follow livestats on www.tampaspartans.com.