Spartans March On To Victory Over Argonauts

TAMPA, Fla. - The Spartans looked to continue their winning ways Sunday afternoon taking on the West Florida Argonauts and did so coming out with a 2-1 victory.

The Tampa squad came out playing confident and aggressive after defeating the no.3 team in the country just days before. However, the Argonauts were not shying away after they just accomplished a similar feat knocking off no.1 Rollins.

Leading the way offensively for UT once again was Nastasia Asgedom, who ended the day with a final stat line of one goal one assist and a .667 shots on goal %. Also, tallying the game-winner for the Spartans was All-American Cici Gonzalez, who finished with a .400 shots on goal %.

First half action was gridlocked with neither side budging or giving way to the other. Both teams spent much of the first half feeling each other out looking for any facet of the game to exploit, but to no avail the score at halftime was nil-nil.

When asked about her team's slow start Coach Erin Switalski said, "It was a very typical Sunday game, especially with our team coming off an emotional game on Friday, but games like these are where you find out about your team's character and I'm very proud of the way our girls played overall."

The second half started off fast as the Tampa began pushing the pace of the match controlling 54% of the possession and playing out from back making sure not to squander any opportunity.

The Spartans struck first with Asgedom scoring off an assist by Korey O'Rourke at the 46-minute mark. The Argonauts would challenge the UT's Caroline Frykgard was there to ward off any attempts to draw level. UWF's Kaley Ward finally bested the keeper at the 79-minute mark to bring her squad level.

Moment's later at the 85-minute mark Gonzalez would provide the late game heroics needed to give Tampa the result they were hoping for. The assist on the goal came from Alexa Sheridan and Asgedom. On the late goal by Gonzalez Switalski said, "It showed a lot of heart from our team to go on answer back late in the game on a great run by Cici."

UT hits the road for their next matchup on September 19 opening up Sunshine State Conference play against Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Love stats and video coverage will be available for fans to follow the action at home.

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