Senior Day Was One For The Books As Women's Lacrosse Defeats Florida Tech

TAMPA, Fla. The No. 7 Tampa Spartans pounced on the No. 20 Florida Tech Panthers after honoring nine seniors for their accomplishments and dedication to the program. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first quarter of the top-20 matchup was dominated by the Spartans on both ends of the field. Within the first three minutes, Sarah Hinkle found the back of the net off a pass from Cece Colombo to get Tampa on the scoreboard first. A few plays later, Georgia Glowaki would earn a man-up goal after Panther player, Ashley Walter, was issued a yellow card. Now leading the game 2-0, Tampa would have three consecutive goals in the span of two minutes by Hinkle, Riley McGettigan, and Gracie Colombo, respectively. The Spartans continued to stay on the attack as Gracie Colombo would tally her second goal of the day off a pass from Peyton Howell. As the game clock continued to wind down, Hinkle would rip a shot pass the Florida Tech goalie to give Tampa an 7-0 lead before ending the period, making her the first Spartan of the day to earn a hat trick. On the other end of the field, the Spartan's defense had a solid first quarter performance as Lexi Waters caused three out of five turnovers and helped the defense hold the Panthers scoreless. 

After some back and forth action in the early minutes of the second quarter, Glowaki tacks on her second goal of the day from the free position spot. Less than a minute after, Florida Tech acquired their first and only goal of the period by Karly Liebendorfer. The Spartans continued to find openings in the Panthers defense as Mary Kate Person would score back-to-back goals, with one assisted by Gracie Colombo at the 4:23 mark. Graduate midfielder Allie Peebles would get herself involved in the action by scoring an unassisted goal. In a similar fashion, Hinkle would help extend Tampa's lead to 12-1 by finding the back of the net for the fourth time before heading into the break. 

The No. 7 Spartans continued their momentum as they would go on to score four out of the six goals from the third quarter. Gracie Colombo tacked another goal to the scoreboard, to make her the second Spartan of the day to earn a hat trick. Person would follow suit as she would score a man-up goal after Howell found her on the inside, making it her first career hat trick as a Spartan. After Person's goal, Cece Colombo would go to the center to win her fourth draw control of the game, making her the program's newest all-time draw control leader. Jenna Myhal and Hinkle would be the two other Spartans to score, as Myhal secured her first goal from the free position spot while Hinkle nabbed a solo goal to make it her 49th goal this season. The fourth quarter did not see much action as Tampa could only tack on two more goals to their extensive 16- 2 lead. After becoming the new leader in draw controls, Cece Colombo nabbed her first goal and only goal of the day, unassisted. Senior Kayla Brennan also scored a solo goal, making it her first goal of the day and season. Tampa would win the game 18-3, making it a great senior day.  

Stat of the Game – Cece Colombo becomes the program's newest all-time draw control leader with 306 career draw controls. 

TAMPA POST-GAME NOTES 

• Tampa earns their third conference win and improves to 10-3 overall on the season. 
• Hinkle led the game in goals scored with five goals.  
• Person earns her first career hat trick as a Spartan.  
• Brennan scored her first goal of the season. 
• UT went 14-18 on clears.
• Cece Colombo would become the newest all-time leader in draw controls for the Tampa Women's Lacrosse program.
• Tampa honored nine seniors who competed in their second to last regular home season game.  

UP NEXT – The Spartans will be hitting the road to Boca Raton to battle the Fighting Knights this Wednesday at 3:00 PM.