Tampa Defeats Tusculum to Advance to NCAA Final Four

Tampa, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's soccer team advance to the NCAA II Final Four with a 5-0 victory over Tusculum in the NCAA Quarterfinal. The Spartans, who played in their first NCAA quarterfinal in program history, advance to the round of four with an overall record of 18-2-1. The victory also extended Tampa's homefield unbeaten streak to 35 consecutive matches.

It took just over seven minutes for Tampa leading scorer Shelby Kuni to find the net as she scored her school record 26 th goal of the season to give the Spartans a 1-0 edge at 7:11. The goal, from Jocelyn Charette, also tied the Sunshine State Conference record for goals in a season.

Charette then went on a tear, scoring the next three goals and recording her second career hat trick and first since September 22 against Flagler. The freshman from Lakewood, Wash., scored the first at 26:31 from Katie Callahan. Her next two goals came in the second half as one was unassisted and the other came from Samantha Robinson and Kuni.

Brittany Tortorella came off the bench to add the final Tampa goal, scoring at 84:20. Sarah Sheehan was credited with the assist on Tortorella's first collegiate goal.

Shannon Aitken started in goal for Tampa, recording three saves to record her 11 th shutout of the season. For the game, the Spartans outshot the Pioneers by a clip of 19 to 5.

Tampa now advances to the NCAA II Final Four in Pensacola. Its first game will be on Thursday, November 16 against Grand Valley State. The time has yet to be announced as the winner will have a spot in the finals against the winner of the other semifinal, which is between West Chester and Metro State.