ST. PETERSBURG -- Sebastian Blanco headed in a goal with 43 seconds remaining in the game Wednesday night to propel the Eckerd Tritons men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the visiting Tampa Spartans.
In a back-and-forth opening half, each team was limited in scoring opportunities with just four shots apiece in the 45 minutes of action.
Marcio Costa put up the first two shot attempts for the Tritons before
Monty Clark sent off the last two later in the frame. Costa had the lone shot on target for the team and game remained scoreless heading into halftime.Â
The Tritons faced relentless pressure to start the second half, enduring three shot attempts in the first five minutes and six within the first 12. The Spartans posted nine shots in the half before the Tritons saw their first one come off the foot of
Stafford Clarke in the 71st minute. After trading attempts down the stretch, a yellow card on the Spartans set up a free kick for Eckerd with less than a minute to go.
Robert Thorarinsson headed the kick and sent it over to Blanco, who sent the ball past the goalie and into the back of the net for the go-ahead strike. Tampa did not get off a shot in its final possession and the Tritons escaped with the 1-0 victory.
Duran Van Woerkom stopped five shots in net to earn the shutout. It's the first win for the Tritons over the Spartans since 2019.Â
With the win, Eckerd improves to 3-7-5 overall and 1-5-3 in the SSC. The team will close out the regular season on Saturday at No. 7 Lynn.
