By: Maliek Watkins, Contributing Writer
On a chilly October evening, the Saint Leo Men’s Soccer team suffered a cold defeat at the hands of University of Tampa’s Spartans. The match was attended by over 130 patrons at the Saint Leo soccer stadium October 24th, 2019, with most of the crowd cheering for the home team. It was to their dismay that the Lion’s suffered a 3-1 lost to the Spartans.
With the weather requiring most to wear at least a sweater, the game started with Christian Evans in goal for the Lions and Jake Richards in the goal for the Spartans. The game quickly brewed with intensity as the first shot of the game was attempted by Marcus Menniti of University of Tampa within the first minute. The intensity was continued as Menniti recorded the first foul of the game within the next two minutes. Then the Lions were able to attempt their first shot of the game by Elias Neisigk, which ricochet off the bottom left corner of the goal. With that being said, by the 10th minute of the game, several fouls and multiple shot attempts had been witnessed by the patrons, who seemed to be thrilled by the game.
The game progressed in a back and forth battle between the Lions and Spartans as shot after shot were attempted by both teams with no success. The constant back and forth between the two teams were leading to serious anxiety for the patrons. However, it was just hoping that lead to disappointments as none of the shots taken were successful.
However, at the 36th minute we see a turn in events as the Spartans scored the first goal of the game. The goal was made by Rojay Smith of the Spartans with a beautiful assist by Omar Thali. This goal brought joy to the Spartan team and their supporters, but it left the Lions team and supporters heartbroken as you could hear the sighs of disbelief. This was the only goal made in the first half and was followed by more attempts from both teams to no success, including a series of fouls.
As the second half began, the starters for the Lions were #1 Evans, Christian, #2 Nyman, Karl, #4 Naess, Tore, #7 Bailey, Kevoy, #11 Niesigk, Elias, #8 Hardy, Mathis, #14 Vagnone, Pietro, #15 Rickmann, Gabriel, #16 Tellechea, Federico, #21 Campos, Guillaume, #32 Diaz, Mauro.
With that being said, the starters for the Spartans were #00 Richards, Jake, #2 Morales, Albert, #6 Constantine, Adrian, #7 Becker, Julius, #10 Thali, Omar, #11 Schessl, Mike, #13 Smith, Rojay, #18 Menniti, Marcus, #23 Krafft, Tim, #24 Nicholls, Ezrick, #25 Schuize-Geisthoevel, Alex.
The period began with a foul on Kevoy Bailey of Saint Leo within the first 30 seconds of the half. This was followed by a shot attempt by Gabriel Rickman of the Lions, and was unsuccessful. This was followed by another foul on Saint Leo, this time by Karl Nyman. Following this foul, the Lions attempted three corner kicks. This series of events which took place within the first three minutes of the half.
With hope still in the atmosphere for Saint Leo to come back from their 1-0 deficit, it was at the 52nd minute, the Spartans scored another goal, increasing their lead over the lions to 2-0. This goal was made by Julius Becker and brought immense joy to the Spartans who cheered immensely for the goal, leaving the lions rather quiet. Scrambling to find a way to cut the Spartans lead, the Lion’s very own Mathis Hardy tried at the goal a minute later, however the shot went too far right.
The game increased with aggression as the Spartans attempted to maintain their lead, and the Lions were trying to cut the spartan lead. The intensity lead to a yellow card on University of Tampa’s Marcus Menniti. Saint Leo’s Pietro Vagnone received his yellow card just a few seconds later.
The game continued with a series of shot attempts, foul corner kicks, and substitutions. With victory looking impossible for the Lions, at the 77th minute, a glimmer of hope shined for the home team. Tore Naess landed a beautiful goal for the lions which was assisted by Mauro Diaz. This goal brought some joy to the faces of the Saint Leo supporters. However with such little time left in the game, victory still seemed very far away.
With the scoreboard showing 2-1 in the Spartans favor, the Lions hoped that they could at least tie the game before the 90th minute. The battle of the Lions and the Spartans continued with hope slowly dwindling down for the home team, with most attendees expecting the game to end 2-1. By the 85th minute, people slowly started departing the stadium. Then at the 87th minute, any hope for the Lions was shattered by the 3rd and final goal for the Spartans. This time by Omar Thali with an assist by Rojay Smith.
The game ended 3-1, to the dismay of the Lions. This game left the history of Lions vs. Spartans with 8 wins and 8 losses. The Lions next home game will be on October 26th against Nova Southeastern University at 7pm.
