Spartans Set to Host Panthers in a Top-10 Showdown

TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 9 University of Tampa men's lacrosse team will host the No. 2 Adelphi University Panthers in a mid-week, top-ten, matchup on Wednesday, February 27, at 12:00 p.m. 

The Matchup: No. 9 University of Tampa (2-1, 0-0 SSC) vs. No. 2 Adelphi University (2-0, 1-0 NE10) 

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 27^th at 12:00 p.m.

Location:  Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex | Tampa, Fla.

Last Time Out: The then ranked No. 12 Spartans defeated the No. 17 Lenoir-Rhyne Bears by a final score of 16-11. Due to their demanding win, not only did the Spartans climb to No. 9 in the latest USILA coaches poll, but Jake Mosher McGraw, B.J. Borowski, and Ross Dickerson earned Sunshine State Conference Player of the week honors for UT. In the contest with the bears, Jake Mosher McGraw led the Spartan's offense. The Saint John, New Brunswick native tallied five points off of three goals and two assists. He took six shots, placing four on cage and added two ground balls in the victory. Defensively, sophomore goalkeeper B.J. Borowski registered a 65.5% save percentage while facing 30 shots on goal. Borowski made 19 saves, allowed 11 goals, and picked up six ground balls. With the play of Borowski, the Spartans went 10-19 on clearing attempts and did not allow a goal on five man-down chances. Ross Dickerson was selected as Specialist Player of the Week for his performance at the faceoff X. Dickerson, a native of Berlin, Maryland, went 23-28 (82.1%) in faceoffs and added 15 ground balls against the Bears. The junior has been named Specialist of the Year five times in his career. As of February 22nd, Dickerson's 76.9% faceoff winning percentage ranks him No. 8 in Division II. Two other Spartans, Matt Vetter and Colin White also contributed heavily on offense to the Spartan's win. Both players had three goals in the contest against the Bears. Additionally, senior Andrew Kew led the team in assists with five. 

About the Spartans: Tampa is currently 2-1 on the 2019 season, with their only loss coming from the now No. 4 Belmont Abbey College Crusaders in their season opener on February 2nd. In 2018, the Spartans ended 15-5, losing to the Saint Leo Lions in overtime in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Prior to the start of this season, for the sixth consecutive year, Tampa was selected as the preseason favorite by the Sunshine State Conference coaches to recapture the league championship. With three games under their belt, newcomer, Harry Kilkowski, is Tampa's lead goal scorer with nine goals already in his freshman campaign. Following Kilkowski's offensive efforts are those of seniors Matt Vetter and Andrew Kew who have recorded eight and six goals respectively. Kew also leads all Spartans in assists with nine. Defensively, UT's three big returners are Jack Tyrrell, Gavin Perry, and Luke Robideaux. Tyrrell has stated five caused turnovers and seven ground balls, Perry has three caused turnovers and 10 ground balls, and Robideaux has recorded one caused turnover and five ground balls in 2019. 

About the Panthers: The Panthers are currently 2-0 overall, 1-0 in the North East 10 conference. Their two wins this season have come from the Assumption College Greyhounds, and the Saint Leo University Lions. The Panthers return four DII Preseason All-Americans including first team face-off specialist, Mark Andrejack, second team attackman, Nicolas Racalbuto, second team defenseman, Justin Napolitano, and second team goalie, Brendan McDougal. Andrejack has currently won 22-24 (91.7%) of the face-offs he has taken and will match up well against Tampa's Ross Dickerson, a DII Preseason third-team All-American, who is 63-80 this season from the faceoff X. No surprise that Racalbuto leads the Panthers in goals this year with five. Following his efforts are that of returner, Ian Kirby, who has tallied four goals and three assists. In the cage, McDougal has stated nine saves with a goals against average of 6.59 and an average save percentage of 60%. 

Series History (Men's): The Spartans lead the all-time series over the Panthers 1-0. This win came on Friday, February 19, 2016.