Spartans Surge Past Mocs In OT Thriller

TAMPA, Fla. -The no.22 Tampa Spartans took on the Florida Southern Mocs Wednesday night at Pepin Stadium. UT rose to the occasion as they came out on top 2-1 in an OT thriller.

The Spartans dominated the match despite falling behind early 1-0 after Sheila Ramos put away a nitty gritty goal after a corner at the 6-minute mark. Tampa outshot their opponents 19-10 and posted a .684 shots on goal %.

Both sides would battle out the rest of the half eventually heading into the locker rooms with Tampa trailing 1-0.

The second half of play is where the dynamic of the game changed as Korey O'Rourke registered her third goal of the season and lock the game up 1-1 in the 46' minute, Following the equalizer by O'Rourke both sides played with urgency locking for coveted game-winning goal.

After the final whistle of regulation, both teams were exhausted but were not willing to admit defeat. The bout continued in a 1-1 stalemate until the golden goal delivered by Cici Gonzalez propelled Tampa to victory at the 108-minute mark of the game.

Stepping up big in the second half was the Spartan defense, as they upped their intensity to help launch their deadly quick counter attack. The defensive unit only allowed the Mocs to get off four of their ten total shots. Sophomore Caroline Frykgard also made some key saves including late in the second half and throughout the entire OT period. Frykgard finished the contest with a. 854 save %

Following the victory, Tampa improves to 6-1-1 overall and 2-1 in the Sunshine state conference. UT returns to action on Saturday as they travel to Daytona Beach, Fla to take on Embry-Riddle. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, live stats and broadcast will be available for fans to follow all the action via TampaSpartans.TV.

Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/tampaspartans) 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