PENSACOLA, Fla. — The No. 22 University of West Florida men’s soccer team battled long and hard against No. 1 Tampa Friday night at Brosnaham Park, taking the Spartans into double overtime for a 1-1 tie. After grabbing an early first half lead off the foot of senior forward Jay Mainville (Jacksonville, Fla./Fletcher HS), the Argos defense would surrender the equalizer late in second half to knot the match up at one.
In the first half of the match West Florida came out firing on all cylinders, putting up five shots with one coming on frame. Midway through the half Mainville, making a good run down the left side, would receive a pass from Stephen Munoz (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary HS) and break one defender. Going to his left Mainville fired a left footed shot past Tampa’s All-American keeper Ryan Thompson to the far post, giving the Argos a 1-0 lead over the top team in the nation.
In the second half, both teams battled back-and-forth for possession, each getting a couple of good looks on goal. A West Florida foul in the 73rd minute gave the Spartans a free kick just inside the left corner. On the set piece Dan Ingvarsson lofted one into the box for Matt Karn who headed it in past a diving Elliott Purdom (Manchester, England/Viterbo University) to tie the match up at one.
In the overtime periods the West Florida offense seemed to catch a second wind, taking advantage of a tired Spartan defense. They would fire off six total shots in the two overtime periods with one coming on frame. The best look the Argos had came in the final seconds of the second overtime when Munoz got around the Spartan’s last defender and fired a shot from about 15 yards out which just sailed wide of the goal, ending the match in a 1-1 tie.
The Argos will return to their home turf next Tuesday, September 22nd when they square off with former Gulf South Conference rival Montevallo at 5pm CT at the UWF Soccer Complex.
For more information on Argonaut athletics or to follow along with live stats, fans can keep up with the action at www.GoArgos.com.