Nov. 13, 2009

Courtesy of Lynn Athletics

WINTER PARK, Fla. - Lynn University's men's soccer team was eliminated from the NCAA South Region Tournament with a 3-1 loss to Tampa on Friday evening. Paulo Vaz scored the lone goal for the Fighting Knights who finish the season 14-4-1 overall.

Tampa drew first blood in the eighth minute of play when Pascal Milien slipped by the defense on the left sideline and lofted a shot into the middle of the box. The ball dropped in the six-yard box then trickled towards the right side netting, putting the Spartans up 1-0.

Vaz knotted the game at one nearly 10 minutes later with an aerial assault by the Blue & White. A free kick was headed just inside UT territory and kept up by Kyle Conrad. Scott Gordon, playing in his first game since a devastating injury at Tampa earlier in the year, added another header into the Spartans box. Dan Ingvarsson missed on a clearance attempt and Vaz was there for the easy open netted goal.

Lynn had clearance problems of its own in the 29th minute. Ingvarsson started the exchange with a free kick shot off the crossbar. Lister Warren collected the loose ball and unleashed a pair of shots in the box, each of which was blocked by the LU defense. Jordan Moses then found daylight with a shot past Alessandro Salvatore for the eventual game-winner.

With its season on the line, the Blue & White pushed forward and kept its attack going. Unfortunately, the final push resulted in a Tampa clinching goal.

Lynn outshot Tampa 13-12 with Salvatore notching two saves and Ryan Thompson logging five stops.

The Knights reached the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive year and 10th time overall.