Ryan Griffin earned Sunshine State Conference player of the week honors. | Samantha Battersby/ The Minaret
While the season started out slowly for the University of Tampa men’s soccer team, October proved to be a pivotal turning point. The Spartans (2-6-1, 2-2 SSC) defeated both Lynn University (7-3, 3-1 SCC) and Florida Southern College (4-6, 1-4 SCC).
Stakes were high as the Spartans took the field against Lynn’s Fighting Knights on Oct. 1. “It was our first big home game of the season,“ said senior goalkeeper Clete Goddard. “Lynn is our big rival, and from there on out, it was do or die for our season.”
There was no more room for mistakes in conference play as these games lead to the conference and regional finals and help decide seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Midfielder Dominic Cutrofello explained, “Our major goal is to be conference champs. A loss to Lynn would have hurt our chances for the playoffs.”
Cutrofello, a junior transfer from Florida Atlantic University, helped the Spartans get one step closer to this objective. He scored the only goal of the game, giving the Spartans their first win of the season and ending the Fighting Knights seven game winning streak.
“This was a huge win for us. It was a sigh of relief and gave us our confidence back,” Goddard said.
This confidence translated into another victory for UT against the Florida Southern Moccasins on Oct 5. Senior Ryan Griffin earned his fourth goal of the season from a penalty kick late in the first half. Griffin closed the half by scoring another goal off of an assist from senior David Gulec.
During the second half, Florida Southern’s Zach Hofstetter scored a goal, but junior Brian Fekete responded with a goal of his own, giving UT a 3-1 finish.
“We took control of the game,” Goddard said of the two victories. “Unlike with our losses, our foot never came off of the pedal. We played hard for the full 90 minutes.”
With six games left in the regular season, and four of them being conference games, Goddard has high hopes for the rest of the season.
Rae’shaun Washington, a freshman, believes that the wins helped to solidify the team. “We’re a pretty young team. We weren’t used to playing with each other. The team has definitely come together lately, and it showed on the field.”
Cutrofello added, “We have a good team. These past two games proved that we have the ability to win big games. September is in the past.”
Analisa Trstensky can be reached at atrstensky@spartans.ut.edu.
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