TAMPA, Fla. – Flagler College scored two goals within two minutes to trim the deficit to 3-2, but the University of Tampa prevailed 4-2 in a non-conference men's soccer match Thursday night at Pepin Stadium.

Tampa evened its record to 1-1 while Flagler leaves with an 0-2 mark.

The Spartans opened the scoring with a goal six minutes into the match and added another with four and a half minutes to go in the half.

Tampa scored 30 seconds into the second half to take a 3-0 lead and seemed to be on its way to a victory.

But Henrique Salomao took a lob pass into the box, with three Tampa players surrounding him, and he managed to find an opening and ripped a shot into the back of the net in the 52^nd minute.

In the 54^th minute, Dan McGuire's corner kick was lofted into the middle of the box where a charging Italo Vichiatto headed the ball down and past the keeper and all of a sudden the Saints were right back in the match trailing by a goal.

Omar Thali scored in the 69^th minute, his second goal of the match, to give Tampa the insurance it needed.

Jake Richards tallied seven saves for Tampa while Andrea Lubbia recorded four for Flagler.

The Saints held a 15-13 edge in shots and a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks. The match saw 29 fouls called with Flagler being whistled for 19.

Flagler has its home opener on Sunday against the University of West Alabama at 1 p.m. at Saints Field.  

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