No. 2 Men’s Lacrosse Win Nail-biter Against No. 3 Limestone

TAMPA, Fla. – No. 1 Tampa Spartans take down the No. 3 Limestone Saints in a neutral site contest in Savannah, Georgia.

The last time these two met, Tampa defeated the Saints 19-8 in the 2022 NCAA Semifinals enroute to the program's first National Championship.  

How It Happened

• Not wasting any time, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead scoring four unanswered fueled by two quick goals from Ryan Kemp and a pair from Devon Rasmus and Jackson Bashaw, respectively.
• It didn't take long for Kemp to secure a first quarter hattrick as the Spartans would score on five of their first six shots on goal with 8:57 still remaining in the quarter.
• Limestone would score a pair of goals in under thirty seconds to get on the board, trimming the Tampa lead to 5-2.
• Michael Flores commanded the circle winning his first six faceoffs in the quarter.
• The Saints and Spartans traded a goal apiece in the closing minutes of the quarter, but Tampa took a 7-3 lead into the second frame.
• Nation's leading goalscorer, Zachary Terry opened up the second quarter of scoring for Limestone for his first goal of the day, however the moment was short lived as Rafe Bradshaw also tallied his first of the day with 11:51 left in the quarter.
• Scoring would slow down for the remainder of the first half as Tampa would take a 9-5 lead into half.
• Tommy Ortega doubled up on the day as he secured his second goal midway through the third, but both squads would continue the steady flow of offense.
• The Spartans would be outscored 5-1 in the fourth quarter as Limestone's offense came to life and the Saints battled back to within one in the closing moments of the game, however the defense was able to hold in the final minute of regulation to secure a narrow victory.

Spartans Performances

• Kemp continued his great run of goalscoring by tallying five in today's victory, followed by three goals from Bashaw and a pair of goals from Ortega.
• Flores went 20-26 on faceoffs and secured eight groundballs.
• Connor Theriault recorded 11 saves in 60 minutes of play.

Up Next

• After three top-20 matchups Tampa will face an unranked Concordia Irvine on Thursday, February 27.

• Opening faceoff is set for noon, ET with the game airing on TampaSpartans.tv.