UT Welcomes the No. 23 McKendree Bearcats
No. 18 Tampa women's lacrosse team is set to host the No. 23 McKendree University Bearcats on Friday, March 16th.
TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 18 University of Tampa women's lacrosse team is set to host the No. 23 McKendree University Bearcats on Friday, March, 16th at 7:30 p.m.
The Matchup: University of Tampa (6-2, 1-0 SSC) vs. McKendree University (1-3, 0-1 GLVC)
Date/Time: Friday, March 16th at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Naimoli Family Intramural and Athletic Complex | Tampa, Fla.
Last Time Out: The Spartans defeated the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears by a final score of 12-7. On offense, Tampa was led by Caroline Forester who netted a whopping five goals for the Spartans. Following Forester's offensive triumph, was freshman Lauren McNeill, who logged two goals for UT. Paige Johnson led the Spartans on defense with two caused turnovers and one ground ball. Additionally, Kristin Frizol had one caused turnover and four groundballs for Tampa. Sophomore Alexa Scudillo led the team in draw control wins with three, while freshman Bridget Sutter played the entire 60 minutes in the cage, logging 11 saves.
About the Spartans: Tampa is currently 6-2 overall, 1-0 in the Sunshine State Conference. To start the 2018 season, the Spartans played three top-ranked opponents. In their very first game of the season, they were able to defeat the No. 11 ranked Rollins College Tars 10-6. The Spartans then took on No. 13 Limestone College, and No. 7 Queens University. Although they lost both of these matchups, the games were close and the team has been perfect since. Due to the team's outstanding performance thus far this season, the Spartans have Snagged the No. 18 rank according to the USILA Coaches Poll. This is the highest ranking the Spartans have received in program history.
About the Bearcats: The Bears are currently 1-3 overall, 0-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Even though McKendree sits at 1-3, their three losses have been to three top-ranked opponents. After defeating Oklahoma Baptist University to start the season, the Bearcats lost to No. 11 University of Indianapolis 18-9, No. 5 Florida Tech 19-7, and No. 1 Florida Southern College 20-5. UT will be the team's fourth game in a row against a ranked opponent. The biggest offensive threats for the Bearcats are #15 Paige Salthouse, #9 Dana DiPasquale, and #24 Rylee Skachenko. Salthouse currently leads McKendree in points with 17. She had 14 goals and three assists on the season. Following Salthouse, DiPasquale and Skachenko both have seven goals. DiPasquale also leads the team in assists with nine. The Bearcats are led in draw control wins by #23 Hannah Sugarman, and #30 Collin Patton will most likely by MU's starting goalie. Patton has stated 47 saves this season, with a goals against average of 15.82.
Series History (Women's): This marks the first meeting in program history between the University of Tampa Spartans and the McKendree University Bearcats.
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.