Late-Match Collapse Proves Costly for Spartans

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (2-7-2) men's soccer team fell to Thomas University (7-6) on Friday after a late-match surge by the Night Hawks.

Tampa spirits were high for nearly the whole contest beginning with a goal off the foot of senior Ryan Griffin in the 42nd minute. The goal was produced off of a corner kick from junior Dominic Goncalves.

One minute after the start of the second half, the Spartan bench erupted again after the team was able to take advantage of yet another corner kick.

Freshman Cody Adams placed the ball into the box to find the head of senior John Reddick who pushed it into the net. The assist was Adams' first of the season while the goal marks Reddick's first of his career.

At the 72nd minute mark of the match, Griffin put one past Thomas goalkeeper for the second time in the game. Seniors Brock Jennings and David Gulec each collected an assist on the play. The goal gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead and Griffin improved to a team-leading seven goals on the season.

The game quickly turned around for the Spartans starting in the 79th minute when Thomas was able to answer with a goal of its own.

The first goal prompted a surge of three more to give the Night Hawks an unexpected 4-3 lead. The four goals by Thomas were all scored within a seven minute margin.

The Spartans could not level the match in the remaining four minutes and picked up their seventh loss of the season.

Tampa's sophomore goalkeeper David Niepel collected one save during the contest while Thomas' Andi Hoffer recorded five.

UT will travel to St. Petersburg on Monday to face Sunshine State Conference opponent Eckerd College. The match will begin at 7 p.m. Live stats and a webcast for the game against the Tritons will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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