First-year coach Lee Hughes will take his team back into action on Thursday (5 p.m.) when it hosts Lenoir-Rhyne University at the Ray Conn Sports Complex. The Lady Flames will then go back on the road and face another challenge next Saturday at Lander University.
The Spartans broke the scoring ice in the 34th minute when Nellie Bryneus nailed a penalty kick. It was the only three shots fired by Tampa in the opening half and the Lady Flames were limited to two. The defensive battle saw the home squad take eight shots over the entire game and Lee only had five.
The 1-0 score remained until the 70th minute of the battle. Allison Wold scored on an assist from Sydni Dennis. Seven minutes later (77:24) Mimi Cronquist put icing on the victory cake with a goal to make it a 3-0 score. Dennis collected her second assist.
The Lady Flames threatened to go on top in the first half when Amelya Jacobs fired her shot at the goal but it was saved by Spartan keeper Aidan Smith. Lee’s best chances came late in the contest. In the 75th minute, Katie Wilson fired a shot at the bottom center of the net but Smith was there for the save. In the 78th minute, Alaysia Nye set a strong left-footed shot at the left-center of the net but the ever-present Smith stepped up one more time to block the shot.
The official stats show Lee credited with two corner kicks in each half while Tampa only had two corners the entire contest. The Lady Flames were whistled for 10 fouls and the Spartans were called for nine violations.
Coach Hughes’ thoughts:
“Honestly, we actually didn’t play bad. They had three chances and scored them all. Sometimes it works that way, unfortunately.
“But we will keep getting after it to prepare for next week against two good opponents. It will be nice to play at home this Thursday, that’s for sure.”
