Tampa Men's Soccer Clinches 2021 SSC Title With Overtime Victory

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The No. 9 University of Tampa men's soccer team prevailed in a double-overtime contest with Sunshine State Conference opponent Florida Tech to clinch the 2021 Sunshine State Conference regular-season championship.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: #9 Tampa Spartans 3, Florida Tech Panthers 2 (2 OT)

Record: Tampa (12-2, 9-1 SSC) , Florida Tech (5-7-1, 2-6-1 SSC)

Location: Rick Stottler Field || Melbourne, Fla.

All-time series: Tampa now holds a 35-16-7 all-time advantage against longtime opponent Florida Tech.  

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HOW IT HAPPENED:

FIRST HALF: The Spartans struck first, needing just under four minutes for Juancho Fernandez to net the first goal of the contest on an unassisted score. The Panthers would tie the score in the 23rd minute off the foot of Guillermo Segovia, making the score 1-1 at the half. UT outshot the Panthers 9-2 on the half.

SECOND HALF: Tampa regained the lead in the 67th minute when Omar Thali scored his 10th goal of the year, with Travis Foster being credited with the assist. The lead would be short-lived, with the Panthers tying the match at 2-2 in just over a minute. The game remained tied throughout the remaining 22 minutes of the half, with UT outshooting the Panthers 10-4 in the half.

OVERTIME ONE: UT had opportunities to connect on the golden goal, outshooting Florida Tech 5-0 in the first overtime period. Three of the shots were on target, though turned away by Florida Tech keeper Nick Brady.

OVERTIME TWO: Each team was credited with a shot when Fernandez struck on the game-winner, his fifth game-winner of the season and seventh overall. Thali recorded the assist on the game-clinching goal for the Spartans.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Fernandez tallied 11 shots in the game, leading all players. He tied a career-high in shots, which is also fifth in Spartan history for shots in a contest.

• UT outshot the Panthers 26-7 on the match, including a 15-4 advantage in shots on goal.

• Tampa goalkeeper Adam Forster registered his 12th win of the season, coming away with two saves.

• Tampa clinched the 2021 SSC regular-season championship. Sitting at 9-1 in league play, Palm Beach Atlantic is currently 8-1. With a Sailfish victory, the SSC title would be presented to both teams.

• This marks the 15th SSC title in program history for the Spartans, and second for current head coach Adrian Bush. This is the first since 2009 fo UT.

UP NEXT: The Spartans conclude the regular season on Thursday at 4 p.m., when they play host to Florida National University.

GAMEDAY MULTIMEDIA: Fans may watch all home games and Sunshine State Conference contests on TampaSpartans.tv. Live stats are also available through TampaStats.com.

Text Alerts: UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.