MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- The Barry Buccaneers lost their Sunshine State Conference men's soccer opener to the Tampa Spartans 2-1 at Buccaneer Field on Saturday night.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Tampa 2, Barry 1
Records: Barry (1-4-0, 0-1-0 SSC), Tampa (3-2-0, 1-0-0 SSC)
All-Time Series: Tampa leads 23-14-3
SUMMARY:
- 26:36 - Omar Thali put the Spartans ahead in the 27th minute. Keeper Tiago Capela punted the ball out of the back and Mike Schessl skied up to flick the ball forward to Thali who raced on on Barry keeper Mirko Ronchi for the one-on-one chance.
- 30:57 - Ivan Arenas knotted the game at 1-1 in the 31st minute. Felipe Ospina sent a long cross in from the right wing and Arenas got his head on it at the far post.
- 67:29 - Rojay Smith scored the game-winner in the 68th minute. Marcus Menniti passed the ball up the middle to Smith who used his speed to get behind the Buccaneer defense for the winner.Â
NOTEWORTHY:
- The teams each took 12 shots on the night, with Barry putting seven on frame to six for the Spartans.
- Capela made six saves for the Spartans to earn the win in goal.
- Ronchi made four saves for the Bucs.
- The foul count was 17-14 for the Bucs, with four cautions against the Bucs and two against the Spartans.
ON THE HORIZON:
The Bucs travel to Cleveland, Tenn., to face the Lee Flames on Tuesday, Sept. 24.