No.7 Tampa Prevails on the Road to Finish the Regular Season

SPARKS, MD – The No.7 ranked University of Tampa Spartans men's lacrosse team prevails in highly contested road matchup to finish regular season.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: No. 7 Tampa 10, No. 11 Seton Hill 8

Records: Tampa Spartans (13-2), Seton Hill Griffins (9-4)

Location: USA Lacrosse Headquarters || Sparks, MD

HOW IT HAPPENED:

FIRST QUARTER

This highly contested final game of the regular season began with Charlie Bolesh netting an early goal to put the Spartans up early. Bolesh found the back of the net once again a few minutes later to build a two goal lead. The Griffins responded soon after, keeping the matchup close. Tampa earned their two goal lead back behind a goal from Harry Kilkowski. The Tampa defense played really well, allowing the offense to have good chances at the net. Netminder Blake Ulmer made a couple great saves to keep the Griffins off the board. Senior Owen Miller scored a goal of his own to extend the Tampa lead to three goals.

• Charlie Bolesh unassisted
•  Charlie Bolesh, unassisted
• Harry Kilkowski, unassisted
• Owen Miller, unassisted

Score: 4-1 Tampa

SECOND QUARTER

The Griffins netted an early goal to begin the second quarter, cutting the Spartans' lead down to two goals. Seton Hill got another one back a few minutes later to decrease the Tampa lead to one. About halfway through the quarter, the Spartans called a timeout. Following the timeout, Daniel Fitzpatrick netted the fifth goal of the matchup for Tampa. Seton Hill got one back and cut the Spartan lead one goal for the second time. Canyon Birch responded with a goal of his own to build up the Tampa lead. The highly ranked teams continued to trade goals back and forth, with the Spartans keeping their lead headed into the half.

• Daniel Fitzpatrick, unassisted
• Canyon Birch, unassisted

Score: 6-5 Tampa

THIRD QUARTER

The second half would open with the Spartans winning the opening faceoff and getting right to work in the offensive zone. Birch opened the scoring for the half, and build the Spartan lead back up to two goals. Each team played well on the defensive side of the ball, keeping the matchup close. Ulmer continued his great play, making pivotal saves for the Spartans. Fitzpatrick netted his second of the matchup and broke the scoreless few minutes, extending the Spartans' lead back to three goals. Late in the quarter, the Griffins netted their sixth of the contest, continuing continue their comeback efforts.

• Canyon Birch, unassisted
• Daniel Fitzpatrick, unassisted
• Harry Kilkowksi, assisted by Luke McAnaney

Score: 9-6 Tampa

FOURTH QUARTER

The final 15 minutes began with a sense of urgency from both teams. With just over 10 and a half minutes left to play, Miller netted his second of the contest to put the Spartans ahead by four. The Griffins were not going down without a fight, as they netted another goal to cut the difference down to three. With just under six minutes left to play, the Griffins called a timeout down by two goals to try and solve the Tampa defense. The Spartans great defensive play and early offensive push prevailed as they went on to defeat the Griffins.

• Owen Miller, unassisted

Final: 10-8 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Five different Spartans netted two goals, Birch, Bolesh, Fitzpatrick, Kilkowski, and Miller
• The Spartans finished the regular season with a record of 13-2

UP NEXT: The postseason begins with conference semifinals on Thursday the 27^th, teams, time, and location are TBA.