No. 9 UT is Set to Host No. 6 SLU in a Top-10 Matchup

TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 9 University of Tampa men's lacrosse team welcomes the No. 6 Saint Leo University Lions on Saturday, April 7^th at 8:00 p.m.

The Matchup: No. 9 University of Tampa (10-3, 2-1 SSC) vs. No. 6 Saint Leo University (9-1, 3-0 SSC) 

Date/Time: Saturday, April 7^th at 8:00 p.m.

Location: Naimoli Family Intramural and Athletic Complex | Tampa, Fla.

Last Time Out: The No. 9 Spartans defeated SSC rival, Florida Southern, by a final score of 15-9. Offensively, junior Andrew Kew led the team with four goals and one assist. Following his efforts were Matt Vetter, and Bryan Wright who each recorded three goals and one assist. On the defensive side of the ball, Julian Bombart led UT with three caused turnovers. Ross Dickerson had the most faceoff wins for UT, winning 14-20 in addition to picking up nine ground balls for the Spartans. Freshman B. J. Borowski played the entire 60 minutes in the cage for Tampa and recorded 15 saves.

About the Spartans: Tampa is currently 10-3 overall, 2-1 in the Sunshine State Conference. Highlights for the Spartans this season include defeating the No. 1 Limestone College Saints 12-10, the No. 7 NYIT Bears 10-9, the No. 10 Belmont Abbey Crusaders 13-12, and the No. 16 Lindenwood Lions 12-6. UT has suffered three losses this season coming from, No. 8 Colorado Mesa, Florida Tech, and No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne. After losing last season in the NCAA Semifinals, the Spartans are hungry to pick up where they left off and look to finish the season strong, thus punching a ticket to the NCAA tournament once again.

About the Lions: The Lions are currently 9-1 overall, 3-0 in the Sunshine State Conference. Due to the team's stellar performance this season, they have snagged the No. 6 rank according to the USILA weekly coaches poll. The teams only loss this season has come from No. 16 University of Mount Olive by a final score of 9-12. Offensively, the Lions are led by #42 Kyle Pauwels and #31 Jake Gilmour. Pauwels leads Saint Leo with 36 goals and 14 assists this season, while Gilmour has 24 goals and 28 assists. Ethan Ticehurst and Jake Bye head the team on defense with 12 and 10 caused turnovers respectively. Jordan Williams is the team's primary faceoff specialist with a record thus far of 114-228, he also leads the team in groundballs with 44. The Lions use #32 Thomas Tatarian as their primary goalkeeper. Currently, Tatarian has 142 saves and has a goals-against average of 8.92.

Series History (Men's): The Spartans lead the all-time series over the Lions 6-1.

Tickets: Tickets for are $5 for adults, senior citizens and coaches. Children under 12 will be admitted free. UT students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with a valid student ID.