Colleges

Spartans stay on roll in soccer as Lynn looms

By DAVID NORRIE
Published October 11, 2005

The Tampa men's soccer team, unbeaten in six of its past seven, faces its biggest test of the season Wednesday when the Spartans (6-3-2) welcome Lynn, ranked No.1 nationally in Division II, to Pepin Stadium.

First-year UT coach Adrian Bush , who captained Tampa's 1994 national championship team, knows the rivalry's history first hand. He says there's no need for added incentive.

"Anytime you play Lynn you know it will be a hard-fought, highly contested game and we have a lot of respect for their program," Bush said. "They are No.1 and this provides a great opportunity for our young team to test its character."

The Fighting Knights come in undefeated at 10-0 (4-0 in the Sunshine State Conference), and have outscored their opponents 43-8. And they have the player Bush tabs as the best in the conference, forward Lee-Paul Scroggins , a first-team All-SSC selection in 2004.

The task of stopping Scroggins (nine goals) and the Knights' potent offense (3.75 goals per game) will be a joint effort between goalkeepers Bob Luckenbaugh and Colby West . The two have split time equally and both are among the top five in the conference in goals against average and save percentage.

On offense, midfielder Luke Enna leads UT with 17 points and seven goals, including two game winners. Bush says he looks to both seniors, Luckenbaugh and Enna, to lead a relatively young Spartans club against a team which won its third national championship in 2003.

The coach welcomes the challenge.

"Our goal is always to win the conference but more realistically we want to compete with elite teams such as Lynn," Bush said. "To do that we have to come out and be at our best."

CROSS COUNTRY: Allison Macsas captured her third win of the season in Saturday's 5K Disney Invitational at Lake Buena Vista. Her time of 17:34.89 helped the UT women finish third among 33 schools, including several Division I teams. The Spartan men placed 15 of 30 schools with David Forry leading in 26.44.1.

The men plan to taper their miles this week in preparation for the SSC meet Oct.22. Florida Southern appears to be head and shoulders above the SSC but the Spartans say they feel they have an excellent opportunity to capture second if they can beat Florida Tech and Nova Southern.

Tampa's women figure to continue their intense training with a focus on a top-four finish at the South Regionals on Nov.5. Ranked No.22, the team is bouncing back after several bouts of the flu over the last two weeks, forcing several to miss practice.

WOMEN'S SOCCER: Since falling to Harding 3-2 Sept.23, UT has won four in a row, outscoring opponents 20-3. Tampa (10-1-1, 4-0) leads the SSC in goals (4.10 a game), fewest goals allowed (0.60) and shutouts (eight) but the big number within reach is the school record for victories, 13. UT is at home for four of its next five games.

VOLLEYBALL: UT improved to 8-0 in the SSC after beating Eckerd and Saint Leo last week to lead the league. The Spartans, ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll's top 25 for 127 consecutive weeks, moved up from No.6 to No.4 and enter a stretch in which eight of their final 10 will be at the Bob Martinez Sports Center, where the team is undefeated this season.

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:58:15]