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Lions Finally Escape Bermuda Triangle

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By BART O'CONNELL, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 19, 2007

TAMPA - The south end of Pepin Stadium has been the Bermuda Triangle for Saint Leo soccer - the place where an entire season vanished, thanks to freak circumstances.

In last year's Sunshine State Conference Tournament final, the Lions fell to Tampa 4-3 in double overtime. The winning goal for the Spartans was scored on the south end.

A week later, in the NCAA II South Regional hosted by UT, Saint Leo lost 7-6 in penalty kicks to West Florida. The only miss, by Bridgett Godwin, ricocheted off both goal posts before bouncing away. The kick was struck on that same end.

But Wednesday, SLU finally navigated through a 45-minute period on the fateful patch of turf and avoided disaster in a landmark 1-0 victory against UT.

It was the No. 19 Lions' first win against the No. 3 Spartans (they had been 0-10) and snapped UT's 43-game home win streak dating to 2003. Now, it's Saint Leo (13-2, 6-1 SSC) that can clinch a share of the conference title and tournament host bid by beating Barry on Oct. 27.

'We always have to fight against them, always,' said Coach Ged O'Connor of UT. 'They've always been just that little bit better than us. But I guess it just goes to show that when you play as a unit, it doesn't have to be pretty soccer.'

The game was full of hard fouls and dramatic collisions, but one moment seemed to make the difference. With 6:39 left in the first half, SLU goalie Lauren Hudson was chasing a loose ball when she ran into a teammate and fell hard to the turf. Her ribs were injured, and she stayed down for several minutes.

The Mitchell High graduate and SLU's only goalkeeper stayed in and finished off the shutout.

'If she had a broken leg, she'd still play in this game,' O'Connor said.

From there, the Lions seemed inspired to take the pressure off her. After UT controlled the ball throughout the first half, SLU began to mount some offensive runs. With a minute left, Chrissy Darwell was fouled in the box, and a penalty kick was awarded to the Lions.

Jennifer O'Connor, returning to action after a long absence stemming from a concussion and no relation to the coach, was Coach O'Connor's choice to take the penalty kick. She easily knocked it past former Land O' Lakes keeper Shannon Aitken for the game-winner.

The kick was made on the south end.

'Jen's our penalty-taker, whether she's not played for two years or whatever,' Ged O'Connor said. 'She steps up and she nails it, and it's going to be very difficult for a keeper to get it.'

The Lions had to survive the second half, with Hudson defending the south goal. UT's best scoring chance came with less than two minutes left, after Hudson failed to corral the ball, was kicked in the head, and two Spartans were staring at an empty net. But the shot was taken quickly and missed.

'Luckily, they put it wide,' Hudson said.

The first bit of luck Saint Leo has had on that end in school history.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.

com.

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