Spartans And Lakers Set to Tangle In Top-10 Showdown

ERIE, Pa. - The No. 3 University of Tampa Spartans men's lacrosse team and the No. 10 Mercyhurst Lakers are scheduled to battle this weekend in an NCAA Division II top-10 matchup.

The No. 3 Spartans enter the contest boasting a record of 10-1 fresh off 12-6 victory over Sunshine State Conference foe Florida Tech, and currently riding a seven-game winning streak.
Tampa's offense averages 14.55 goals per game and provides a balanced attack as five different players have all tallied double-digit figures in goals. The backbone of the offense is Conor Whipple, who leads the nation in points and assists per game and leads the team in points(73), assists(35) and ranks second on the team in goals (38). UT's Andrew Kew is a pure scorer who leads the team with 43 goals and ranks second in the country in goals per game (3.91). Senior Jake Schmidt is a dual-threat, as he has been manhandling defenders on his way to 19 goals in addition to dishing out eight assists this year. The Rochester, N.Y. native ranks third on the team in goals and second in assists. Oakville, Ont. native Mike Morris, who has slowly, but surely sniped his way to 17 goals, with his flashy goals coming in flurries from the perimeter of the offensive zone. 

Defensively, Tampa's group is as talented as they come, featuring a mix of youth and experience. The defensive unit features upperclassmen Marty Heyn, Charlie Cummins and Ryan Vella as well as underclassmen like Luke Posner, Nick Balzano, and A.J. Ferraro. Together as a group, they've scooped up 113  and forced up 57 caused turnovers. Cummins leads the team in Caused turnovers and currently ranks 14th in Division II in caused turnovers per game (1.6), and Ferraro leads the group with his 28 groundballs.

At the Faceoff X, Tampa ranks 13th in the country in faceoff winning percentage. The duties are split between the combination of Tampa native Noah Menendez and Sophmore Alex Patton; Patton does the brunt of the work as he is posted a winning percentage of 63.4 which ranks him eighth in all of Division II.

The No. 10 Lakers will come into the matchup with a record of a 7-2, and dropped their last matchup against No. 17 Lindenwood by a score of 8-7.

Mercyhurst's offense averages 10 goals per game and is led by James Crowe, Derek Richards, and Colin Greenway. Crowe leads the team with 23 goals. Richards is the assist leader on the team with five and ranks second on the team with his 13 goals. Greenway is tied for third on the team in goals with Keyan McQueen registering 12 goals apiece.

Defensively, Greg Heyl sets the tone as he leads the team in caused turnovers (16) and ranks third in groundballs (25). Other major contributors on the defensive end include Shane Endres and Brandon May; the duo have combined for 40 groundballs and 21 caused turnovers.
Tampa leads the all-time series 2-1, with the Spartans winning the previous matchup in 2015, by a score of 11-7.

Game time is set for 2 P.M. Live stats, will be available for fans to follow the action via TampaSpartans.com.

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