Box Score
TAMPA â€" Taking advantage of two free kicks and one fast-break opportunity, the University of Tampa made the most of its limited scoring chances Wednesday night, with Jenny Karl and Cina Salemi doing all of the damage. Karl scored two goals, and Salemi added one goal and two assists as the Spartans downed Florida Southern 3-0.
Even with the loss, Florida Southern (3-10-4, 1-5-1) remained alive in contention for a spot in next week’s Sunshine State Conference Tournament, but may need help to make it. The Moccasins will need to beat Nova Southeastern on Saturday, and hope the Florida Tech-Lynn game doesn't end in a tie. That would enable them to jump Nova in the standings, and either finish ahead of Lynn on total points or Florida Tech based on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Tampa (15-2-1, 5-2-1, ranked #15), meanwhile, has secured a first-round home game next Tuesday, and it could be against Florida Southern depending on what happens in other games on Saturday. The Spartans have finished the regular season but could be either the third or fourth seed in the SSC Tournament.
Florida Southern had the first true scoring chance in the game, and it came in the 17th minute. Kara Moore (Fleming Island, Fla.) crushed a free kick off the cross bar from long distance, and before the Spartan defense could react, Jackie Metz (Vero Beach, Fla.) was in the box for a follow-up try. Her shot was too high, however, and the Spartans were able to keep themselves out of an early hole.
A free kick for Tampa in the 21st minute then produced the first goal of the night. Salemi took the kick for UT, sending it long into the box where it was initially played by Emily Jones. Unable to take the shot herself, Jones was able to get the ball to Karl, who put it over the head of Moccasin goalkeeper Erin Moseley (Jacksonville, Fla.).
That goal came on one of only nine shots taken by either team in the first half, five by Tampa and four by Florida Southern. That trend continued well into the second half too, with neither team taking another shot until the 62nd minute when Moore tried one from long range on another free kick.
Only a few seconds after that, Karl had her second goal of the night, and third of the season as the Spartans pushed quickly down the right flank behind first Gabby Russo and then Salemi, who picked up her second assist in the game. Salemi then scored the Spartans’ final goal on a direct free kick in the 66th minute.
For the game, Florida Southern out-shot Tampa 11-9, and had six corner kicks compared to none for the Spartans, but was unable to dent the scoreboard against either Alyson Gregoriwicz or Katherine Marting. Gregoriwicz played the first 81 minutes and made two saves, and Marting went the final nine and made one save against Taylor Chitty (Columbus, Ind.) on a late header. Chitty also had another chance to score when the ball wasn’t cleared, but defender Candice Shields stopped it to keep then shutout intact.
Moseley made three saves for the Moccasins.
Florida Southern will end the regular season Saturday night in Davie against Nova Southeastern, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
