Tampa Clinches Conference Title in Lacrosse Program’s First Season

WINTER PARK, Fla. - In its first season of existence, the University of Tampa (11-4, 7-1 DSC) lacrosse team continued its rise among the collegiate ranks with a share of the Deep South Conference championship following a 15-8 victory over Rollins College (3-12, 1-6 DSC) on Friday.

NCAA Division II all-time winningest coach Rory Whipple brought his team to play as the Spartans scored the first six goals of the contest, with two coming from leading scorer Greg Griffo. Freshman M.J. Lorenzo added a goal and two assists of his own during the span.

After taking a 6-1 advantage to the half, the Spartans recorded the first two scores of the third period behind Lorenzo and Frank Lorono. The Tars would cut the UT advantage to 8-3 heading into the final period.

Tampa then put the finishing touches on the historic evening as it outscored Rollins 7-5 in a high-scoring fourth period.

A total of eight Spartans scored a goal, led by four from freshman Jonathan Franzese. Lorenzo, Griffo, Lorono and A.J. DeSimone would each add a pair of goals while Jeff Clements, Andrew Hoffman and Joel McGowan also found the back of the Rollins net.

Lorenzo and Kevin Castle led the Spartans with three assists apiece, as Griffo and James McAuliffe also added a helper.

Joseph Fiorucci earned the win in goal for Tampa, finishing with five saves in 60 minutes of play.

The Spartan dominance was echoed in the scorebook, with UT outshooting the Tars by a 47-25 margin. Tampa also held a 33-21 groundball advantage and won 13-of-25 faceoffs.

With the regular season complete, Tampa has earned a first round bye in the 2012 Deep South Conference Championship. The Spartans will host a DSC semifinal game on Thursday at 7 p.m., against the winner of Tuesday's Florida Southern-Saint Leo matchup. The winner will advance to the DSC title game on April 15 at the home of the North Carolina champion.

Live stats and a video webcast will be available for Thursday's game through TampaSpartans.tv.

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