The Spartan men’s soccer team (10-5, 6-2 SSC) clinched the second seed in the Sunshine State Conference playoffs with a 1-0 shutout last Friday over the Eckerd Tritons (11-7, 3-5 SSC).
Tampa was awarded a first round bye and will play the Rollins College Tars in the semi-finals Friday Nov. 2 at Lynn University. Tampa earned the top seed.
Tampa previously lost to Rollins 0-1 in a conference match-up played in Winter Park. The victory was achieved by Kevin Sierra’s rebound off his own penalty kick and effective goalkeeping by Ryan Thompson, who improved his perfect record to 2-0.
“Enjoy it, but don’t be satisfied with this,” Coach Adrian Bush told his team after the win. “It’s a fantastic result. Now our season starts. We’re number two in the toughest conference in the country. It gets us back to where Tampa soccer is used to being.”
His players agree.
“It’s a big leap from the pastthree years,” said Kevin Sierra. “The number two seed especially, with a chance to get to NCAA.”
Like many of the team’s seniors, Sierra elevated his play this year. His lone score against Eckerd moved him into a tie as the team’s leading scorer of game winning goals. It was also was his fourth goal of the season, a career-high.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ricardo Cardoso said. “We’ve made so many improvements. We’ve just got to keep going.”
Cardoso, like Sierra, has helped the senior members lead by example. After trading off with fellow striker and senior Clevon George, Cardoso moved ahead to become the team’s leading scorer, kicking in his eighth goal of the season in the 2-1 victory over Barry University.
Senior Heyden Ayure also had an outstanding performance in the homecoming game recording his first collegiate goal.
Perhaps the greatest challenge the statistics show will be playing the playoff games on the road. The Spartans are 6-2 at home making them only 4-3 on the road. Tampa upset Lynn at home 4-2, but if they face them again in the finals, the game with be played on Fighting Knights’ turf. The players don’t foresee this as becoming an issue.
“It’s a championship game. Everyone will be playing their hardest,” Cardoso said. “It wouldn’t be any easier at home.”
“We’ve been hustling at practice,” added Sierra. “We’re deadly anywhere we play.”
Recently the statistics have proved Sierra’s comment. Tampa offense has recorded more shots on target than their opponents for five straight games.
Creating shots has led to scoring opportunities, opportunities that Tampa has capitalized on, winning four of the last five games. All four of these games were conference victories.
“We’ve been winning a lot lately,” Sierra said. “It helps team unity.”
Be it unity, hard work, or momentum, Tampa faces its hardest match ups starting Friday. To make the NCAAs would be a goal no Tampa men’s soccer team has reached in years.
Ricardo Cardoso thinks this is the year to do it.
“We have the talent, the chemistry, and the guys. We can do it.”
