Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College men's soccer program nearly overcame a seemingly insurmountable deficit and pushed the University of Tampa to the brink in defeat on Saturday night at the Turley Athletic Complex, 3-2.
Senior
Daniel Lopez and sophomore
Adam Stephany each scored in the second half for the Tritons (3-8-2, 1-3-0 SSC), who celebrated Alumni Night on the field as a handful of former players made their return for halftime recognition.
Eckerd Hall of Fame inductee and former head coach Jim DiNobile came back along with 10 other graduates who have helped elevate the program to where it is today.
Organized by EC Head Coach Steve Magee, the Tritons warmly welcomed Andy Oswald,
Matt Duffy, Brendan Pineiro, Jim Lynch, Jeremy Clubb, Bugsy Clayton, Stephen Jaeger, Alex Brown, Colin Kuhn and Nate Bender, back to their home turf.
A pair of goals from Daniel Darkwa and wizardry in the open field from NSCAA All-American forward Tyler Blackwood ultimately pushed the Spartans (6-4-2, 2-3-0 SSC) to the final decision.
But it was a stark contrast to the previous EC/UT meeting at Pepin Stadium at the beginning of October when the Spartans reeled off all five goals in the second half.
Down by a three-goal deficit, the Tritons responded with a resilient fire and a rejuvenated approach that had the Spartans scrambling until the final horn when junior defender
Marcus Lohrmann's shot slammed just outside the edge of the net.
Lopez, now tied for the team lead in goals with four (
Nick Murawski), blasted a shot from outside the box that skipped multiple times on the turf before scooting past UT keeper David Niepel.
Stephany then crashed the weak side of the box less than five minutes later at the 70:13 mark in regulation as sophomore
Joe Swindell slipped a precise pass within the box after working the corner and making a move towards the inside.
Stephany recorded the first goal of his career and the season.
The Tritons had 20 minutes to score the equalizer and continually pressured the Tampa defense by dominating possession down the stretch.
Darkwa's first goal was in quick-strike fashion and came within the opening minute of regulation following a long throw-in from the side by John Bentham. Darkwa elevated and pushed a header across the plane out of the reach of EC goalkeeper
Toni Virtanen.
Blackwood netted his 11th goal of the fall by deking past a pair of defenders down the right side with fancy footwork in the 17th minute.
The Eckerd defense held strong until halftime and shortly into the second period before Bentham and Darkwa connected again, this time on a give-and-go type sequence in the middle of the field that had the Spartans up 3-0.
The Tritons will look to halt a current four-match slide next week against Nova Southeastern University as Sunshine State Conference play resumes at home on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
