Spartans Notch Second Straight SSC Shutout With Win at Barry

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (6-3-1, 3-2 SSC) men's soccer team avenged an earlier loss to Barry University (3-6, 0-4 SSC) with a 3-0 victory over the Buccaneers on their home field in a Sunshine State Conference affair.

"I'm proud of how our players have responded," says head coach Adrian Bush. "Barry is a well-coached team and our players brought great energy in the second half."

Leading scorer Tyler Blackwood found the goal twice and played a role in all three Spartan goals, beginning with a 10th-minute score from teammate Joshua Freese. After assisting Freese's goal just five minutes into the second half, Blackwood connected on his second goal of the evening from Tobias Hansmark in the 66th minute.

"Tyler (Blackwood) was very explosive tonight but the key to this game was about commitment to defense," states Bush. "A clean sheet on the road in this conference speaks volumes in the work the team put in tonight."

The Spartans tallied 12 second-half shots and outshot the Bucs by a 16-14 margin as both teams had seven on target.

David Niepel notched seven saves after a season-best eight in Saturday's win over No. 16 Rollins. It marked the fourth shutout of the season for the junior goalkeeper.

"We now turn our focus to the number-23 ranked team in the country in Florida Tech on Saturday," concludes Bush.

The Spartans return home for a tough test against No. 23 Florida Tech on Saturday at 8 p.m. Live stats and a webcast are available through TampaSpartans.tv.

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