Spartans Fall in Overtime to Trojans

ANDERSON, S.C. – No. 2 University of Tampa battled until the final seconds but fell just short in a tightly contested matchup against No. 5 Anderson, falling 14-13 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Spero Field.

How It Happened

Anderson struck first midway through the opening quarter with back-to-back unassisted goals to take an early 2-0 lead. Tampa responded at the 4:20 mark when Jackson Bashaw finished an Eric Burbank assist to get the Spartans on the board.

After the Trojans extended the lead to 3-1, Burbank answered with an unassisted goal in the final minute of the period to pull Tampa within one, trailing 3-2 after the opening frame.

The Spartans quickly erased the deficit early in the second quarter when Dom Rottura netted an unassisted strike to tie the game. Moments later, Grant Green capitalized on a feed from Tommy Ortega to give Tampa its first lead of the contest at 4-3.

Tampa continued its offensive surge as Rex Kesselring and Zach Johnson scored in succession, stretching the advantage to 6-4. Anderson responded late in the half with two goals in the final minute to even the score at 6-6 heading into halftime.

Anderson briefly reclaimed the lead early in the third quarter on a man-up opportunity, but Tampa quickly answered. Aaron Cho tied the game with a goal off an assist from Zack Friend, and Friend followed with an unassisted strike to push the Spartans back in front.

Bashaw then added his second goal of the game, finishing another feed from Friend to extend the Tampa lead to 9-7. Anderson closed the quarter with a goal to trim the deficit to 9-8 entering the final period.

The Trojans opened the fourth quarter with three straight goals to regain momentum and take an 11-9 advantage. Tampa refused to back down, as Kesselring sparked the comeback with a goal off an assist from Cho before scoring again moments later to tie the contest at 11-11.

After Anderson regained the lead with two late goals, Kesselring completed his standout performance with another unassisted strike to cut the deficit to one. With just seven seconds remaining, Ortega delivered a clutch equalizer off a Kesselring assist to force overtime at 13-13.

In the extra period, Anderson secured the win when Brayden Bushnoe found the back of the net at the 2:57 mark to seal the 14-13 overtime victory.

Spartan Performances

• Kesselring led Tampa's offense with four goals and one assist.
• Bashaw added two goals, while Friend contributed one goal and two assists.
• Cho recorded one goal and one assist, while Burbank also finished with one goal and one assist in the contest.
• At the faceoff X, MP Thomas won 14 of 28 draws, helping Tampa stay competitive in possession throughout the afternoon.
• Defensively, Tampa collected 33 ground balls, led by Kesselring with three while several Spartans recorded multiple ground balls.

Up Next

The Spartans will look to bounce back against Montevallo on Saturday, March 14 at home.