#22 Tampa Completes Historic Day With Pair of Overtime Finishes
MORROW, Ga. - The No. 22 University of Tampa (0-2) men's soccer team played simultaneous games for the first time in program history, with both being decided in overtime.
The Spartans dropped a 3-2 decision to Piedmont College (1-2) in double overtime and also fell to No. 5 Clayton State University (3-0) by a 2-1 score in the first overtime period.
"I am extremely proud of our entire team for what was asked of them today," says head coach Adrian Bush. "With two tough losses, the results do not leave any of us happy, but in looking at the growth of the team, we have alot of positives to take away from the games tonight."
In the highly anticipated top-25 showdown with Clayton State, the Spartans got on the board first with a Dominic Cutrofello goal at 14:02. Brian Fekete was credited with an assist as he found Cutrofello in front of the goal to give the Spartans an early lead.
The Lakers would not score until the 58th minute, when Kenny Mena found the back of the net off a deflection. Clayton State would then score the game-winner in the 91st minute as Ryan Pugh gave the Lakers the victory.
Cutrofello and senior Ryan Griffin each had two shots for the Spartans, who were outshot 23-8 in the contest.
Sophomore David Niepel started in goal for Tampa and finished with five saves in just under 92 minutes of action.
Against Piedmont, UT's goal came from freshman Joshua Freese and Melvin Andujar. Freese gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead as Andujar's second-half goal broke a 1-1 tie to give UT its second lead of the contest. John Reddick was also awarded an assist on the Freese goal.
Andujar finished with a team-high six shots, including five on goal as the Spartans held a 26-18 edge in shots. UT also had 16 on goal, compared to nine for Piedmont. Freese, Jarrett Link and Dominic Goncalves each had five shots for Tampa.
Derek Robbie started in goal for the Spartans, with the freshman finishing with six saves. The deciding goal was scored by Piedmont's Miles Flynn at 109:41 on a penalty kick.
"I also want to take a moment to say that all our prayers are with the family and players, past and current, of one of the greatest coaches in the game, Sean Pendleton," says Bush. "I received the devastating news of his passing after the game tonight. He was a good friend to me and really took a liking to me early in my college coaching career. Tonight is a very tough night."
Tampa returns to action on Wednesday as it travels to North Georgia College & State University. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.
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