Spartans Dominate Second-Half to Take SSC Opener

TAMPA, Fla. –  The No. 14 University of Tampa men's lacrosse team took its Sunshine State Conference opener over visiting Rollins College. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Tampa Spartans 18, Rollins Tars 11
Records: Tampa (8-3, 1-0 SSC), Rollins (5-5, 0-1 SSC)
Location: Naimoli Athletic & Intramural Complex | Tampa Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa leads the all-time series 7-0.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Period

• Andrew Kew scored the first two Spartan goals, each of which were assisted by Conor Whipple.
• Freshman Bryan Wright notched the next two UT goals, one unassisted as the second was fed by Whipple.
• The Tars answered to each of the first two Spartan goals, as Tampa scored two of the final three goals of the quarter to take a 4-3 advantage.
• Tampa outshot Rollins 10-4 in the quarter and won seven-of-eight faceoffs.

2nd Period

• Tampa scored the first two goals of the quarter to grab a 6-3 lead.
• Chris Vetter scored his first goal of the contest on a score from Kew to start the period.
• Kew would follow with an unassisted goal just over a minute later.
• Rollins would go on a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead as the Tars would net the goals over an 11-minute span where it held the Spartans scoreless.
• UT would stop the bleeding with C. Vetter's second goal of the period as he scored with just over two seconds to play until the half. Kew was credited with the assist.
• The Tars outhot the Spartans 14-7 in the period.
• Tampa continued to dominate on faceoffs, winning eight of nine.

3rd Period

• The Spartans quickly eliminated the Rollins lead as the home team scored three straight to start the quarter.
• Matt Vetter knotted the game at 8-8 with the first goal as the score was assisted by freshman Jake Mosher McGraw.
• Kew would score the next two goals.
• UT would extend the lead to 13-9 with a trio of goals to end the period from Kew, Jake Schmidt and Whipple. The goal by Schmidt was assisted by Sean Herdman.
• Tampa outscored its opponent 6-1 in the quarter to take the four-goal lead.
• UT outshot the Tars 12-4 and won all eight faceoffs.

4th Period

• A.J.Ferraro scored first in the fourth as it took just 13-seconds for him to find the net with an unassisted score.
• Wright and Kew would each add a goal, with Whipple assisting Wright's score.
• Cameron Wolfe got on the board as he scored UT's 17th goal of the game. Gavin Perry was credited with the assist.
• Connor Scanlin added a goal with under a second to play for UT.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Kew, the nation's leader in goals per game, was one shy of the school record as he scored seven. He also had a pair of assists.
• Wright added three goals, as C. Vetter had two.
• Whipple led all Spartans with four assists.
• A.J. Arnold started in goal and had one save.
• Bryan Karn received the decision as the goalkeeper finished with four saves.
• Sam Watts won 26 of 28 faceoffs and also had 20 groundballs.
• Blaine Birch led Tampa with two caused turnovers.

UP NEXT:

Tampa hosts SSC opponent Lynn University on Saturday at 3 p.m., at the Naimoli Complex. Fans may follow via live stats at TampaStats.com or watch at TampaSpartans.tv.

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