Spartans Drop Tough Road Opener to West Florida

MELBOURNE, Fla – The University of Tampa Women's soccer team opened their 2016 campaign against the University of West Florida Argonauts on the campus of Florida Tech. A day after having their original season and home opener cancelled due to weather against Georgian Court University, the team traveled to Melbourne in search of opening the season with a win but fell 4-0 to UWF.

The first half belonged to the Argonauts as they had most of the chances and a large part of the possession. The Spartans were kept on their toes for most of the half as the game was played on their side of the field with UWF having a couple of chances to score and the UT defense being called into action to keep the deficit at 1-0 after West Florida took the lead in the 8th minute of play. At the halfway point of the first half, Tampa built some momentum and showed signs of life as they kept possession and played on West Florida's half of the field. The Spartan's best chance for a goal came in the 23rd min of action as defender Ali Robinson was able to get a header that went just off target off a free kick into the box.

Robinson would be called into action on the defensive side soon after that as she had a key block in the 28th minute to prevent a free shot by the Argonauts offense. However, the team was only able to hold off the offensive attack by UWF for so long as the Argonauts took advantage off a set piece to go up 2-0 in the 36th minute as a cross into the box was headed up by Emily Vogler and over goalkeeper Sydney Ross who had come out in search of the ball.

A defensive breakdown early in the second half led to a one on one situation by West Florida forward Marjorie Boilesen and she chipped it over an oncoming Ross to give the home team in this game a 3-0 lead.

The Spartans best chance of the second half came via midfielder Alexa Sheridan as she saw a header go just wide of the goal as Tampa looked to end the shutout. UT had a few good chances after that as they held on to the ball and had possession as they looked to build up their play. The Argonauts wrapped up the scoring as Sara Helgadottir scored the final goal of the game to put the score at 4-0.

The team will be back in action this Sunday, September 4 as they will take on Texas A&M-Commerce for their second game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Rick Stottler Field on the campus of Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla.

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