WOMEN'S SOCCER GAMEDAY: Eckerd at #8 Barry

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College Triton women's soccer team plays one of its final road games of the season tonight as they travel to face No, 8 Barry University at 7:00 PM.

COVERAGE: Live Stats | Live Video

SETTING THE STAGE
The Tritons (4-4-1, 1-3) are in need of a win in conference play, but must get it on the road against first-place Barry, which jumped to No. 8 in this week's NSCAA NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.  The Bucs (7-2, 3-1) are tied with No. 16 Rollins atop the Sunshine State Conference standings and hold a half-game lead on Nova Southeastern and Florida Tech.  The Tritons are tied for seventh with Lynn and Florida Southern.

LAST TIME THEY MET
Barry, then ranked No. 2 in the nation, handed the Tritons a 3-0 loss in the final regular season contest of the year on November 1, 2014, in St. Petersburg.  The Bucs took an early lead with goals in the 12th and 29th minutes as they outshot Eckerd, 18-4.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Barry leads the all-time series, 18-2-1.  Eckerd's last win over Barry came on September 29, 2012, in St. Petersburg by the score of 2-1.

ABOUT THE BUCS
- Barry reached as high as No. 1 in the national rankings, but dropped following back-to-back road losses to Embry Riddle (2-0) and Lynn (5-4).  The Bucs have since recovered with a pair of one-goal conference wins over Saint Leo and Florida Southern.
- The Bucs have recorded clean sheets in five of their nine matches this season.  Only once have they allowed more than two goals, giving up five to Lynn on September 23.
- Barry has two of the top three point-scorers in the conference in Lavinia Nkomo (18) and Shanice Robe (16).  Nkomo is tied for second in conference in goals with seven.  
- All 20 of the team's goals this season have come from four players Nkomo (7), Robe (6), Amanda Traynor (4) and Christy Grimshaw (3).  The foursome has combined to take over 70 percent of the team's total shots so far.

ABOUT THE TRITONS
- Eckerd is coming off a tough loss in its last outing, rallying from a 2-0 deficit at Rollins to force overtime on second-half goals by Katie Shafer and Taylor Tippett, but fell early in overtime on a penalty kick.  
- After tonight's match, the Tritons will play four of their final five regular-season contests at home.  Three of those are conference matches.
- The Eckerd attack has been a balanced one all season long.  Tippett leads the team in goals with three while four players - Lauren Monce, Michelle Spesshardt, Shannon Estes-Larkin and Monique Elliott - have scored two each.  The Tritons have out-shot their opponents this season, 146-118, and place better than 50 percent of their shots on goal.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS (Stat, Conference Rank)
GOALS: EC - Tippett (3, T-14th): BU - Robe (6, T-4th)
ASSISTS: EC - Monce, Spesshardt, Wader, Sanchez (2, T-12th); BU - Traynor (5, T-2nd)
POINTS: EC - Monce, Spesshardt, Tippett (6, T-22nd); BU - Nkomo (18, 2nd)
SHOTS: EC - Sanchez (20, 18th); BU - Robe (36, T-4th)
SAVES: EC - Ulmer (44, 2nd); BU - Foreno (26, T-7th)
GOALS AGAINST: EC - Ulmer (1.99, 7th); BC - Foreno (0.98, 2nd)