Spartans Fail to Bury Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's soccer team (4-2-1) fell to the Barry Buccaneers (2-4) by a one goal margin on Saturday night. The 1-0 match marks Tampa's second loss of the season and Barry's second win.

"We have been focusing on work rate defensively in the matches and overall team intensity," says head coach Adrian Bush. "I am very happy with what our players gave us tonight - it was a solid performance."

Twenty minutes into the match, the Bucs managed to score the first goal. Tampa goalkeeper David Niepel saved a shot from Barry's Kris Wilkinson only for Wilkinson to score off his own rebound. Wilkinson beat Niepel on his left side.

While there were no other goals scored in the first half, play did become increasingly physical as three separate Bucs were issued a yellow card within the remaining 25 minutes.

"I told our players after the game, in life you can sometimes do all the right things and things still not turn out your way," continues Bush. "Tonight was one of those moments. We dominated the game from start to finish yet we are on the losing end."

Both teams failed to score another goal in the final period. Niepel completed the match with two saves while the Buc's keeper recorded seven. Tampa ended the loss with 31 shots compared to the Bucs' 12.

"We are growing as a team, our players are working so hard and I am happy about our performance in spite of the loss - our players were very good tonight and I feel bad for them," says Bush. "We have a great opportunity vs the #1 team in the nation Wednesday at Lynn, we will be ready."

The Spartans will continue their 2012 run with a conference matchup against Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. The game is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.tv.

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