No. 24 Spartans Fall to No. 4 Lions in Conference Battle

"This one is tough," says head coach Adrian Bush. "Our players played their tails off tonight and I'm very happy with their response against another top-10 team in the country in back-to-back games."

Both teams were held scoreless in the first half as UT goalkeeper Zak Downes tallied two saves. Despite being outshot 7-3 the Spartan defense held strong limiting any scoring opportunity for the Lions.

In the 85th minute Saint Leo netted the first goal of the match as Brandon Rivera scored on a cross into the box by Maximilian Schulze-Geisthovel.

Tampa came out attacking in the second half drawing four corner kicks and putting six shots on target. The offense was unable to find the back of the net against SLU goalkeeper Manuel Schoenhuber as he finished the match with six saves.

The Spartans concluded the match with seven shots on goal to only four for the Lions. Keith Francisco and Kevin Knowles led the offense with three shots each. Andrew Clare and Alex Knaggs also contributed to the attack with two shots apiece.

"This shows that we can play with anyone and we must continue to grow with each performance," states Bush. "We must set our sights on PBA Saturday night."

UT returns to action on Saturday at 7 p.m., for a regional matchup against Palm Beach Atlantic at Pepin Stadium. Live stats as well as a video webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.tv.

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