TAMPA, Fla. - A barrage of goals sent the No. 22 University of Tampa men's soccer team past Sunshine State Conference opponent Nova Southeastern 5-0 in the quarterfinals of the SSC Tournament. The Spartans (12-6-1) were seeded fourth tournament while the Sharks were seeded fifth.
The Tampa scoring started early and never ceased. In the 18th minute, junior Ryan Griffin netted his sixth goal of the season when he headed in a free kick off the foot of sophomore Brian Fekete to put the Spartans up 1-0, a lead they would not relent.
Just over 10 minutes later, David Gulec was left open for his second goal as a Spartan when Lister Warren and Greg Sasser connected on passes to aid the junior from Sweden.
The match was not all about the Tampa scoring attack. David Niepel turned in the performance of the season as he made eight saves in the first half alone before adding three more in the second to keep the Sharks off the board entirely. Niepel's previous high in saves came when he earned nine at Saint Leo earlier this season.
Less than five minutes into the second half, senior Chris O'Brien stretched the Tampa lead to 3-0. O'Brien picked up his first goal of the season, and second of his career, when he found the back of the net after a cross from Andrej Gulan was tipped by Lister Warren.
Not to be outdone, Warren, the Spartans' leading goal scorer, added one of his own off a long kick from Jordan Moses in the 64th minute. Warren's 12th goal of the season, along with his fifth assist earlier, gave him a team-leading 29 points.
Juan Rivas tallied the fifth and final goal off a pass from freshman Gil Davis.
Niepel finished the contest with 11 saves. Tampa was outshot 19-13. Ten of the Spartans' 13 shots were on goal.
Tampa's five goals are their most in an NCAA contest this season.
UT will travel next to Barry on Friday for the SSC semifinals. Barry, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, defeated the Spartans in last season's conference finals to claim the SSC crown. Barry also defeated the Spartans 3-2 in double overtime earlier this year.
Following the game, Tampa head coach Adrian Bush said, "We look forward to our rematch with Barry. They are a solid team that we know always brings out the best in our players."
Live stats will be available through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register atwww.tampaspartans.com.
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