Spartans Fall to Panthers in Overtime Contest

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's soccer team (0-6-1, 0-2) traveled to Florida Tech (5-2, 1-1) on Saturday where they were defeated in their fifth overtime battle in the first seven games of their 2011 campaign.

Beginning at the 29th minute, FIT would play a man down after Panther Naru Wild-Putsorn was issued a red card.

While the first half was a scoreless one, the numbers looked to be in favor of the Spartans. Tampa tallied 10 shots compared to the Panthers one, but neither side found the back of the net in the first forty-five. Tampa had two shots on goal while FIT did not produce any.

The Spartan bench celebrated at the 76th minute after a free kick off the foot of junior transfer Dominic Cutrofello outside of the box. Tampa struck first and the score was 1-0.

With 2:03 remaining in regulation time, FIT's Nick Robinson leveled the match with a bicycle kick that put the ball past Tampa's sophomore goalkeeper David Niepel.

The score still even at the 90 minute mark forced the game into overtime - something Tampa has become too familiar with this season.

After a hard-fought seven minutes in the first OT, the Panthers were able to produce a goal off of a corner kick from Niepel's left side to end the game.

Head coach Adrian Bush reflected on the loss and noted, "I'm going to stand up for my team. Anyone who thinks they are not winners is wrong. We are all working so hard, from our staff to our players, and I believe in us 100%."

Niepel collected one save in his third loss on the season while FIT's goalkeeper recorded three saves in his forth win. UT had 18 shots total in contrast to the Panthers's six.

The loss dropped Tampa's SSC record to 0-2 and improved Florida Tech's to 1-1.

Bush also commented, "The breaks will start to fall and it's plain and simple - we must win every game left on our schedule to get to the postseason. Nothing is impossible."

The Spartans will return home to Pepin Stadium on Saturday to face Lynn University at 7 p.m. in yet another conference match-up. Tampa will look to win their first of eight games left in the regular season. Live stats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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