Tampa Dominates In Front Of Home Crowd to Earn Third-Straight Win

TAMPA, Fla. – The nationally ranked Tampa Spartans garner their third-straight win over non-conference opponent, the Lee Flames.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Heading into the matchup, the Spartans looked to continue their win streak in front of their home crowd, and that they did. In less than a minute, Jenna Myhal netted the first goal of the match from the free position spot. With a brand new possession, Tampa quickly started a new attack and earned a two-goal advantage against Lee as Georgia Glowaki nabs a goal, making it her first of the season. The Spartans continued to stay on the attack, as they scored six consecutive goals from six different Tampa players in the span of five minutes, giving the Spartans an 8-0 lead. With six minutes still on the clock, Lee was finally able to get on the scoreboard as Brittney White found the back of the net off the Flame's first shot of the game. Tampa responded instantly as Riley McGettigan won the draw control and found Sarah Hinkle, who tacked on another for the Spartans. While the clock winds down to two minutes left in the quarter, Peyton Howell pushes the Spartans to double digits with a solo goal, giving Tampa a 10-1 lead. 

Knowing that they had a long way to climb, the Flames kicked things off straight away in the second quarter as Kat Sweeney scored an unassisted goal. That would not intimidate the Spartans as Allie Peebles would later tally the 11th goal of the game for Tampa, making it her first of the day. With a man-up, Lee would respond back twenty seconds later with a free position goal by White. The Flames looked to continue to knock on the Spartans' doorsteps as Sweeney would convert on a Tampa turnover and rip a shot past goalie, Alex Walling, to find the back of the net. With the score at 11-4 and a timeout used by Tampa, the Spartans had a quick turnaround as Peebles earned a man-up goal, assisted by Howell to extend Tampa's advantage. Lee would continue to look for an opening, but it would not come as Tampa would stay on the attack and garner four consecutive goals including back-to-back goals from Sophi Wrisk. As the game clock winds down to zero, the Spartans would go into the break with a comfortable lead at 16-4. 

With the start of a new quarter, Tampa decided to make a goalie change as Savvy Barbosa entered the field to replace Walling. Barbosa would have a rough start as Flames player Callie Curtis nets a man-up goal in the first couple of minutes. The Spartans looked to play around near the Flame's net after winning the draw control, but would turnover the ball, allowing the Flames to take possession and eventually score their sixth goal of the game. At the 6:58 mark, junior midfielder, Wrisk, would be the only Spartan to score in the quarter, giving her a hat trick of the day. Lee would finish the period by cutting Tampa's lead to eight by scoring three goals in a row. 

The fourth quarter saw instant back-and-forth action between the two teams and it would not be until the 10:58 mark that the first goal of the quarter would be earned by the Flames, who did not want to go down without a fight. Within two minutes after the first goal, Hinkle would rip one past the Flames goalie, making her the second Spartan of the day to earn a hat trick. Wrisk would follow suit as she would find the back of the net from the free position spot. Starting a new possession, Cece Colombo would win the draw control and end up scoring her second goal of the game, giving Tampa a 20-10 lead. Not letting the score deficit deter them, Lee would find an open spot in the net to tack another goal to the scoreboard. However, this would be the Flame's last goal of the quarter as Hinkle and Howell picked up two more solo goals to end the match at 22-11 for the Spartans.

Stat of the Game – Sophi Wrisk and Sarah Hinkle would be the leading scorers of the game as each tallied four goals and had a combined total of 15 shots, with 13 on goal. 

TAMPA POST-GAME NOTES 

• Tampa improves to 5-2 overall on the season.
• Glowaki netted her first goal of the season.
• Hinkle tallied her fifth hat trick of the year.
• The Spartans scored four free position goals, converting 4-4 attempts.
• UT went 13-14 on clears.
• Coach Kelly Gallagher picked up her 96^th career win.

UP NEXT – Tampa will continue to stay at home this week as they compete against Alabama-Huntsville on Thursday, at 5:30 PM.