Pair of Second-Half Goals Lifts No. 9 Tampa Over No. 14 Lenoir-Rhyne

Box score

COLUMBUS, Ga. - The No. 9 University of Tampa (4-0) women's soccer team faced its toughest test of the early 2013 season and came away with a 2-0 victory over No. 14 Lenoir-Rhyne University (2-1) in a neutral site contest at Columbus State University.

"This was a very tough test against a strong opponent in Lenoir-Rhyne," says head coach Gerry Lucey. "After an easy opening part of our schedule, LR provided us a good insight into our strengths and weaknesses. We have a lot of hard work ahead to make improvements but potential to make this another special season."

The Spartans connected on two of their three shots on goal as Arielle Gonzalez netted the game-winner from Gabby Russo and Audrey Hayward at 60:26. The goal came off a pass from a corner kick.

"I'm delighted for Arielle (Gonzalez) scoring the game winner," comments Lucey. "Her attitude and workmanlike manner is contagious and hopefully she will be able to continue to perform at a high level. She helped change the game for us in the second half."

Freshman Chelsea Martin provided late insurance with a goal in the 79th minute. Michaela Moran assisted the score as Martin won a one-versus-one against the LRU goalkeeper.

Kori Butterfield tallied six saves to preserve the fourth straight shutout for the Spartans. Lenoir-Rhyne held a slight 11-10 edge on shots and a 6-3 margin in shots on target.

Tampa returns to action on Sunday in Columbus against Tusculum College at 10 a.m. Live stats will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

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.