Spartans Reign In Women's Soccer
Published: Dec 2, 2007
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ORANGE - BEACH, Ala. - It turns out the University of Tampa women's soccer team has a flair for the dramatic.
Two days after upsetting top-ranked Grand Valley State, the 14th-ranked Spartans won the longest women's championship match in Division II history, edging No. 16 Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 3-1 on penalty kicks Saturday afternoon at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
With Tampa leading 2-1 in the shootout and needing one goal to seal the victory, Ashley Flateland came through with a shot to the left side of the net that got past a diving Brittany Ester.
After the goal, Flateland grabbed a UT flag and joined her teammates in running down the sideline to greet Spartans fans to celebrate the team's first national title in its 10 years of existence.
"Pretty much, [I was thinking] I don't want to be the one to miss," said Flateland, who was named to the all-tournament team. "I told our keeper [Shannon Aitken], 'This is for you, this is your senior year.' And I'm thinking I'm not going to miss it, I've got to do this for the team and everyone else."
The last two women's titles had been decided in overtime, but none had gone to a second extra session. Tampa (20-2-2) and Franklin Pierce (18-2-5) were scoreless through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute OT periods before the championship was decided on penalty kicks.
Flateland continued her defensive dominance in the championship match. After shadowing D-II player of the year Katy Tafler against GVSU on Thursday, Flateland was matched up against Gabriela Demoner, the runner-up for the award. Those two players combined for four shots and no goals against UT.
"I think we did a great job on marking their key players today, which provided us the opportunity to win," said Tampa coach Gerry Lucey. "We knew going in that No. 10 [Demoner] was without a doubt one of the best players in the country and a very dangerous player."
Franklin Pierce's Mackenzie Bulych opened the shootout with a shot wide left. UT's Shelby Kuni then got a shot into the left side past Ester. Each team missed its next attempt, and Aitken stopped a shot by Demoner, who had been 4-for-4 on penalty kicks this season. Megan Tobin gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead when Ester guessed wrong and went right on Tobin's shot to the left.
Needing a goal to stay alive, the Ravens' Allison Haines scored on a shot to the right side, setting the stage for Flateland's goal.
Tampa outshot Franklin Pierce 11-7 in the match and held a 4-2 edge in shots on goal. The Spartans put on a heavy attack at the end of regulation, getting three corner kicks and two shots in the final five minutes. Despite the missed opportunities, Lucey said his team never lost faith.
"They keep on going and keep plugging away," he said. "We know that we'll get a chance at some stage. We always impress upon them to keep trying and keep pushing and something good's going to happen. Even though we missed a couple of good opportunities, I think that the players kept pushing themselves and kept the energy high, and they really wanted to win it today."
Kuni, Nicole Murphy and Maria Mohammed were also named to the all-tournament team. Mohammed was named the tournament's most outstanding defensive player, while Demoner was tabbed the best offensive player.
Franklin Pierce was making its Division II-record 14th final four appearance and was aiming for its sixth national championship. The Ravens won four consecutive titles from 1994-97 and another in 1999.
"It was a very scrappy game. Neither team really took control of it," Franklin Pierce coach Jeff Bailey said. "We just never really settled down and started playing. We didn't really create enough. With the penalty kicks, you might as well flip a coin [to decide a winner]."
