WOMEN'S SOCCER GAMEDAY: Tampa at Eckerd

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College women's soccer team hosts one of its biggest rivals tonight when the University of Tampa comes to the Turley Athletic Complex for a 7:00 PM kickoff.

COVERAGE: Live Stats | Live Video

SETTING THE STAGE
The Tritons (4-5-2, 1-4) need a strong finish in conference play in order to qualify for the conference tournament. Three of their remaining four contests are at home, starting with tonight's match against Tampa (7-2-2, 3-1). The Spartans have climbed as high as No. 20 in the national rankings, but dropped out after a 1-0 loss at Embry-Riddle on October 3. They currently sit in third place in conference.

LAST TIME THEY MET
The two teams faced off in the opening round of the Sunshine State Conference Championships, with the Spartans taking a 2-0 win on their home field on November 2, 2014. Both of their goals came early, the first on a penalty kick by Kaley Ward in the 19th minute followed by a Cici Gonzalez goal in the 21st minute. Weeks earlier, the two teams played to a scoreless draw.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Tampa leads the all-time series, 16-3-1. Eckerd's last win over the Spartans came on October 2, 2002, by the score of 4-0.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS
- Tampa goalkeeper Caroline Frykgard was named the SSC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday following two scoreless efforts. The sophomore from Stockholm, Sweden, hasn't allowed a goal in over 200 minutes of play and has a save percentage of .808 in 10 matches.
- The Spartans are led offensively by Cici Gonzalez, who has found the back of the net seven times this season. Three other players - Nastasia Asgedom, Gabby Scirica and Korey O'Rourke - have scored three goals apiece.
- Tampa has knocked off two top-10 teams this season with wins over then-No. 3 Columbus State (Ga.) and then-No. 10 Rollins.

ABOUT THE TRITONS
- Eckerd is coming off a 1-1 draw with Palm Beach Atlantic in a match that saw the Tritons take 24 shots on the night. EC scored its lone goal on a Taylor Tippett penalty kick in the 60th minute. Tippett and Shannon Estes-Larkin both nearly put in the golden goal during extra time.
- Tippett's goal on was her team-leading fourth of the season. Lauren Monce, Michelle Spesshardt, Shannon Estes-Larkin and Monique Elliott each have two goals.
- Eckerd finishes its season with three of its final four matches at home. The Tritons travel to Lynn on Saturday before returning to the Turley Athletic Complex for contests against Florida Southern on October 21 and Nova Southeastern on October 24.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Stat, Conference Rank)
GOALS: EC - Tippett (4, T-10th); UT - Gonzalez (7, T-3rd)
ASSISTS: EC - Monce, Spesshardt, Wader, Sanchez (2, T-14th); UT - Asgedom, Scirica (4, T-4th)
POINTS: EC - Tippett (8, T-18th); UT - Gonzalez (15, T-6th)
SHOTS: EC - Tippett (24, T-16th); UT - Gonzalez (40, T-9th)
SAVES: EC - Ulmer (50, 2nd); UT - Frykgard (42, 3rd)
GOALS AGAINST: EC - Ulmer (1.86, 7th); UT - Frykgard (.958, 3rd)
SAVE PERCENTAGE: EC - Ulmer (.704, 9th); UT - Frykhard (.808, 5th)