Tampa Claims 2-1 Victory in Overtime Against Eckerd in Battle of the Bay

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa women's soccer team extended their unbeaten run to five games as they came from behind to defeat Eckerd College 2-1 in overtime. The Tritons took the lead in the 70th minute and Tampa tied the game in the 80th minute to send it into extra time before winning the match in the 94th minute.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final (OT): Tampa 2, Eckerd 1

Records: Tampa (5-6-1, 3-2-1 SSC), Eckerd (5-7-2, 1-3-2 SSC)

Location: Pepin Stadium | Tampa, Fla.

All-time Series: Tampa now holds a record of 19-3-1 against Eckerd

Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Half | The first half of the game was uneventful as both sides were only able to combine for one shot on target and neither keeper had to work much. The Spartans were unlucky to not be able to go up on the scoreboard as they had five corner kicks to Eckerd's three and outshot them 4-2 overall. The defense for UT was solid as they took care of the few chances in which the Tritons ventured forward and also cleared the ball out on the set pieces.

2nd Half | The second half was very similar to the first half as Tampa looked for the opening goal, often attacking from the wings and having more of the possession but being unable to get the final touch and the shots they took were off target or blocked before they could present any real threat to the visitors. With less than 20 minutes to go in the game and completely against the run of play, Eckerd took advantage of a missed played clearance by Tampa goalkeeper Caroline Frykgard to go up 1-0. However, the Spartans would not give up and kept up the pressure on a Tritons team that had been comfortable sitting back and just defending and UT found the goal they were searching for. With just under 10 minutes left in the match, Sarah Raymond found Meg Beidleman uncovered at the corner of the box. Beidleman quickly turned to face the goal and did not hesitate to shoot the ball after seeing Eckerd goalkeeper Casey Winn all the way to one side of the goal. Before Winn was able to react, the ball went up and into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1. With the game tied, neither side wanted to risk giving up another goal in regulation and the match headed for extra time.

1OT | Unlike the last two games for the Spartans, this time, the team did not take long to seal the win. After having a shot off a corner kick saved shortly after the start of extra time, the team looked for the game-winner and found it. Beidleman received a pass outside of the box and sent in a pass between two Triton defenders that Robyn-Anne Whittaker was able to run onto and shoot to the near post and past the goalkeeper to end the game.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• This was the third match in a row to go into extra time for the Spartans. The game against Embry-Riddle went into 2OT with UT scoring the game winner in the 105th minute while the match at Lynn also went into 2OT but ended in a 1-1 draw. This time around, it only took four minutes of extra time for the game-winner to be scored by Tampa.
• The win extends the team's unbeaten run to five matches with four of those matches being victories.
• This was the fourth game in a row that went into extra time for Eckerd and they have now gone 0-2-2 in those matches.
 • Tampa bounced back from having only four shots against Lynn to putting up 15 shots in this game.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The back line of Tampa held the Tritons to their lowest shot total of the season as the visitors only had six, three less than their previous season low which was set against Florida Southern earlier this year
• Despite missing the last three contests, Beidleman is now tied for second on the team with two goals on the year.
• Whittaker is now second on the team with six points as she has tallied two goals and two assists this season.

UP NEXT:

The Spartans will head to Miami Shores, Fla. to take on the Barry Buccaneers on Saturday in their second to last road trip of the regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Bucs will be coming off a long break as they last played on October 1st when they defeated Florida Southern 2-1 at home. Barry's two games last week were postponed due to Hurricane Matthew.

TAMPA SPARTANS MOBILE APP:

A free app is also available for free download through Apple and Google Play stores. Please search for Tampa Spartans Front Row.

RECEIVE TEXT AND EMAIL ALERTS:

UT also offers free messaging service for text and/or email, which sends alerts and press releases for Spartan teams. To sign up, please register atwww.tampaspartans.com.