#25 Tampa Hands #18 West Florida First Loss

TAMPA, Fla. - The #25 University of Tampa defeated the #18 University of West Florida 3-1 in a battle of ranked opponents. The Spartans handed the Argonauts their first loss of the season, giving both teams a 5-1-1 record.

Freshman midfielder Ryan Griffin got the Spartans on the board 7:44 into the first half when he kicked in the rebound from a Lister Warren shot to put the Spartans up 1-0.

Following the goal, West Florida's Paul Willoughby took a shot that was saved by Spartan goalkeeper Ryan Thompson to keep the lead in tact. The Argonauts' Lance Nelson narrowly missed tying the contest when he hit the post at 17:06.

With 16 minutes left in the half, Warren one-timed the ball off a feed from Pascal Millien to put Tampa up 2-0.

Just three minutes into the second half, West Florida was issued its first of three consecutive yellow cards, but they managed to pull within one goal when Nelson got the ball passed Thompson in the 59th minute assisted by Willoughby.

Cautions were also issued to Tampa's Ryan Maxwell, Jorge Jimenez, and Millien, before the Spartans answered back with an insurance goal on a penalty kick by Dan Ingvarsson in the 78th minute to restore their two-goal lead.

Both squads finished with eight shots on goal. Spartan goalkeeper Thompson finished with seven saves while the Argonauts' Thomas Olmsted finished with five.