Spartans Advance to Sunshine State Conference Championship

ST. LEO, Fla. –  The No. 9 University of Tampa Spartans defeated the No. 15 Florida Tech Panthers 19-12 thus advancing to the championship of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: No. 9 Tampa Spartans 19, Florida Tech Panthers 12
Records: Tampa (14-4), Florida Tech (9-6)
Location: Sunshine State Conference Tournament | St. Leo, Fla.  
All-time Series: The Tampa Spartans lead the all-time series against the Florida Tech Panthers 9-1.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Period

• The first goal of the 2018 Sunshine State Conference Championship was scored by UT's Jake Mosher McGraw off the assist from Shane Hanlon.
• Two minutes later, the Spartans scored again with a goal from Matt Vetter, assisted by Chris Cox.
• With 8:21 remaining in the first period, senior Blaine Birch recorded his first goal of the season, giving the Spartans a 3-0 lead.
• Tampa then earned the next two goals of the contest, shutting out Florida Tech in the first period 5-0. The last two goals of the first period came from Hunter Van Horn and Hanlon respectively.

2nd Period

• Starting the second half, Andrew Kew earned a goal for the Spartans giving them the 6-0 lead.
• The Panthers finally earned their first goal of the game with 12:39 remaining in the half.
• Van Horn then netted a goal for Tampa, the assist from Vetter.
• Tech got their second goal of the game with 8:42 left in the half.
• Bryan Wright then logged an unassisted goal for the Spartans, giving them the 8-2 lead.
• The Panthers answered with 6:39 left to play.
• FIT the netted their fourth and fifth goal of the game with 2:58 remaining in the contest.
• At the end of the first half, the No. 9 Spartans lead the No. 15 Panthers 8-5.

3rd Period

• Coming out of halftime, the Spartans were the first team back on the board with a goal from Vetter, his second of the game.
• Tech answered, narrowing the Spartans lead to three.
• The Panthers then netted another goal three minutes later. UT still held the lead over FIT 9-7.
• The final goal of the period was netted by the Panthers, cutting the Spartan's lead to one.
• At the end of the third period UT lead FIT by a score of 9-8.

4th Period

• To start the fourth period, Mosher McGraw earned a goal, the assist from Hanlon.
• Kew then netted his second goal of the game, earning the 11-8 lead.
• Chris Cox the berried one for the Spartans, his first goal of the contest.
• After, winning the faceoff, Ross Dickerson scored for Tampa with 10:55 left on the clock.
• After four unanswered goals, FIT earned their ninth point of the contest.
• However, shortly after Luke Curran scored for Tampa increasing the Spartans lead over the Panthers 14-9.
• A minute later, the Panthers scored again, cutting Tampa's lead to four.
• FIT earned their 11^th goal with 7:51 remaining, however, six seconds later Dickerson netted another goal for UT, his third of the season.
• With 7:24 remaining in the contest, the Panthers refused to quit fighting scoring again. The Spartans held the lead 15-12.
• Moshe McGraw then gave Tampa the 16-12 lead with a goal from Van Horn. 6:03 remaining in the contest.
• Hanlon then scored again for the Spartans with 4:18 remaining.
• Kew netted his final goal of the day giving Tampa the 18-12 lead.
• To seal the deal Jack Shelton earned the final goal of the game, his second of the season, with :40 seconds remaining.
• The No. 9 University of Tampa Spartans defeat the No. 15 Florida Tech Panthers 19-12 in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Championships.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Kew led the Spartans offensively with three goals and one assist, followed by Mosher McGraw with three goals, and Hanlon who ended the contest with two goals and two assists.
• Defensively, Luke Robideaux led the way with two caused turnovers and eight ground balls.
• Ross Dickerson won 25-32 faceoffs he took, in addition to leading the team in ground balls with 13 and earning two goals.
• In the cage, B.J. Borowski had five saves for the Spartans, followed by Bryan Karn with three.

UP NEXT:
The Spartans will play in the 2018 Sunshine State Conference Championship game on Sunday, April 29^th at 1:00 p.m. The game will take place at Saint Leo University against the winner of the Saint Leo vs. Rollins matchup.

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