Women's Soccer | 10/5/2018 2:33:00 PM

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.— The eighth-ranked Barry Buccaneers will face off against the Tampa Spartans in a Sunshine State Conference women's soccer matchup at Buccaneer Field on Saturday Oct. 6.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Records: #8 Barry (9-0-1, 4-0-1 SSC); Tampa (5-2-4, 3-0-2 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 18-9-3

The Bucs enter this weekend's matchup against Tampa ranked eighth in the country but are coming off their first non-win of the season after playing to a draw at Nova Southeastern on Wednesday night. The Spartans are also coming off a tie, 0-0 against Rollins.

The Spartans and Bucs have played four teams in common, all SSC competition. Barry defeated Eckerd, Rollins, and Palm Beach Atlantic by a combined margin of 9-2 and tied with Nova while Tampa beat Nova and Eckerd but finished with ties against Rollins and PBA.

The Buccaneers are coming off a week in which two of their players were recognized as the conference's players of the week. Molly Sharpe was named the offensive player of the week and has dominated for the Bucs all season. Sharpe has been a mainstay during her senior season, sitting at second on the team's points leader board with seven goals and seven assists next to her name. Melanie Ziegner has become a leader on a Buccaneers defense that has allowed just three goals in five conference games. The Bucs will surely come out motivated after suffering the first blemish to their record this week but still possessing an unbeaten season. Christy Grimshaw, the defending SSC Player of the Year, leads the conference with nine goals and 24 points.

Tampa has been competitive all season and has been able to stay afloat despite facing a tough out-of-conference schedule. The Spartans played two formerly ranked opponents in #18 Mississippi College and #22 Georgia College earlier this year, winning against the former and dropping a game to the latter. Tampa has had a variety of players contribute this season with 15 different Spartans contributing a point to the team's success. With a 5-2-4 record, the Spartans will attempt to add a statement win to their resume against the eighth-ranked Bucs.