No. 5 Tampa Falls to No. 7 Florida Southern on Road

LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 5 Tampa falls to No. 7 Florida Southern away from home ending the Spartan's six-game winning streak.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Florida Southern got off to a hot start scoring the game's first goal at the 13:54 mark after Jackie Stoller found the back of the net on a free position shot. The Mocs continued their run, scoring the game's next two goals to give them a 3-0 advantage over the Spartans. Tampa's all-time career points leader, Sarah Hinkle would net the Spartans first goal with 13 seconds left in the first quarter to trail 3-1 heading into the second. Georgia Glowaki assisted Hinkle's goal giving her her fifth of the year. 

The second quarter started off relatively quiet on the goal-scoring end as both teams did very well defensively. Florida Southern's Ellie Griffin scored an unassisted goal at the 10:49 mark to increase the Mocs lead once again to three. However, the game would see a sudden shift in momentum as Tampa would respond and go on a run of its own. Jenna Myhal scored UT's second goal just over a minute later cutting the Spartans deficit to two. Hinkle tallied her second of the game after Sophi Wrisk assisted her bringing Tampa to within one with 6:37 remaining in the half. Senior, Gracie Colombo tied the game at four after scoring an unassisted goal. This would be the first time in the game that the Spartans and Mocs would be level. The Mocs would respond after three unanswered goals to regain the lead but Glowaki would find herself on the score sheet after nodding up the contest at five heading into the half.

Tampa took the lead for the first time in the game when Mary Kate Person scored a goal that was assisted by Myhal just over a minute into the third quarter. Tampa would continue to increase their lead when Allie Peebles netted her first of the game off of a free position shot. The Spartans went 2-5 on the day off free positions. The Mocs ended Tampa's goal-scoring run at the 9:24 mark in the third to trail by just one, however, Colombo would net her second of the game to put Tampa back up by two goals. The Spartan's two-goal lead would be the largest lead for UT on the day. Colombo would later tack on a third goal in the fourth quarter to give her her second straight hat trick. Trailing 8-6 in the third quarter, the Mocs would respond with four straight goals to lead Tampa 10-8 early in the fourth.

Wrisk scored her first and only goal of the game with 11:59 remaining in the fourth but FSC would answer putting them back up by two and eventually winning a nail-biter, 11-10.

Stat of the Game – Gracie Colombo tallied her second straight hat trick and fourth overall this season.

TAMPA POST-GAME NOTES 

• Tampa moves to 1-1 overall in the Sunshine State Conference.
• The Spartans have now lost two straight to the Mocs.
• Isabella Avila and Alex Walling led all Tampa players in groundballs (4). 
• UT won the draw control battle, 14-9.
• Tampa held Florida Southern to 11 goals which is their second-lowest total all season. 
• Coach Kelly Gallagher remains one win away from 100 career wins.
• The Spartans are 2-2 versus the Mocs in the last four matchups.
• Cece Colombo had four draw controls in the loss and is now only 11 away from becoming Tampa's all-time leader.

UP NEXT – Tampa returns to Naimoli to take on Saint Leo on Wednesday, April 3, at 6:00 PM.