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Women earn No. 4 seed

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By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: October 31, 2009

ST. LEO - After beating Tampa 2-1 in its regular-season finale, the Saint Leo women's soccer team earned the No. 4 seed in next week's Sunshine State Conference Tournament.

The Lions (8-4-1, 5-3 SSC) will host fifth-seeded Nova Southeastern (6-7-1, 3-4-1) on Monday night at 7:30 in the tournament's first round. Saint Leo is the defending tournament champion and finished as runner-up the year before.

In Wednesday's win against Tampa, the Lions got the winner in the second half from Chrissy Darwell. Sara Macko scored Saint Leo's first goal and assisted on the winner. The defense, led by Ana Davila and Francesca Williams, held the Spartans to nine shots.

The Lions have advanced to NCAA South Regional play the past three seasons.

Ranked sixth in the latest NCAA II South Region rankings, an early exit could put them in jeopardy of missing the eight-team regional field.

Monday's winner will face top-seeded Rollins (13-1-2, 7-0-1) on Friday in Winter Park, where the rest of the tournament will be played. The title game is Nov. 8.

MEN BOW OUT: The men's soccer team finished 6-9 after losing to No. 9 Tampa 5-1 on Thursday. Because the Lions did not finish in the top six in the SSC, they did not earn a spot in the conference tournament.

The game was scoreless for the first 45 minutes, but the Spartans scored five times in the next 39 minutes before Saint Leo's Jonathan Glenn finally scored in the 84t{+h} minute, his team-high ninth goal of the year. Glenn also led the squad with 21 points.

While Saint Leo was a respectable 5-4 at home, its 1-5 road record is what kept it out of the postseason.

LUCKY 13: The women's volleyball team moved up one spot to 13t{+h} in the latest Division II national rankings after posting its sixth consecutive 3-0 victory against Rollins on Tuesday.

The Lions (23-2, 10-0) rode a 20-match winning streak into Friday's contest at Barry, which was not complete at press time. They play at Lynn this afternoon at 4 p.m. before returning home Wednesday for a highly anticipated rematch against Tampa at 7 p.m.

GOLF BREAKTHROUGH: For the first time this season, the nationally ranked women's golf team won a tournament - the Flagler Fall Slam on Tuesday in St. Augustine.

Anna Riss - the tournament's individual champ - shot rounds of 71 and 75 to claim the title and lead the Lions to victory. Suzanne Ervin had a 36-hole total of 152 and Tricia Maloney a 157.

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at tampasport@gmail.com.

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