Spartans Prevail In Overtime To Win SSC Tournament
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The University of Tampa (15-5) captured its fourth Sunshine State Conference women's soccer tournament title in school history with a 1-0 overtime victory over No. 24 Florida Tech (9-6-2) on Sunday.
"This was a massive step forward for our program," says head coach Gerry Lucey. "We have worked very hard over the last year to forget about the 6-11 record in the 2009 season and build towards something positive. The girls had a great spring and we knew at that point that we were capable of something special this year. We knew that our freshman group were talented and would give us the depth we needed to push hard within our conference and region."
With the 2010 championship, Tampa won its first SSC tournament title since 2007 as it owns more titles than any other SSC school with four. Rollins, Saint Leo and Barry each have one tourney title apiece.
"Today's win against a very strong opponent in Florida Tech who are currently ranked at #24, was our third win against a ranked opponent in the last two weeks," says Lucey. "We have a lot of belief in ourselves and hope that we can extend our season longer. Defensively we were very good again and have limited FIT to very few shots and just a glimpse of goal."
The sixth consecutive UT victory was cemented with an overtime goal by junior Brittan Spence. The lone score of the game came off a keeper rebound where the shot landed in the right side of the net. Spence's shot was from approximately five yards out.
Tampa controlled the offensive flow throughout, finishing with a 17-9 margin in shots, including a 7-3 advantage on shots on goal. UT also had a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
Luana Miessa and Brittan Spence each totaled four shots apiece as Samantha Kay and Gabby Jolin each had three. Jolin, Miessa and Spence all tallied two shots on goal apiece.
The shutout was also the 11th of the year for freshman goalkeeper Leah Cesanek, who blanked all three opponents in the SSC tournament. She finished with three saves and has now notched four straight shutouts, including three over nationally ranked opponents.
"Its been a great weekend for the fall sports and we are delighted to play our small part in that," Lucey comments. "It's been a great ride so far and we are looking forward to another huge weekend next week."
The 2010 SSC all-tournament team consisted of Pia Soesemann (Saint Leo), Martina Tangen Billing (Florida Southern), Princess Haley (Florida Southern), Alexis Hernandez (Nova Southeastern), Dilja Olafsdottir (Nova Southeastern), Paula Lislow (Florida Tech), Pasquale Anderson (Tampa), Courtney Peffley (Tampa), Casey Ladermann (Florida Tech) and Ann-Marie Helgastad (Florida Tech). Brittan Spence of Tampa was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
UT now awaits word on the 2010 NCAA Division II Tournament, which will announce the field on Monday. The Spartans will be in the field as an automatic bid for the South Regional, which is scheduled to begin on Friday.
Six teams from the region will be invited, with the top two receiving a bye. The winner of Sunday's regional semifinal matches will then meet on Nov. 19 in the regional final.
Please visit www.tampaspartans.com for complete information on the NCAA women's soccer tournament.
Fans may also 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.