Spartans Drop Game to No. 3 Limestone
Tampa, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's lacrosse team went up against one of the top Division II programs in the country on Monday night and fell to third-ranked Limestone 20-8 at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex. With the win Limestone improves to 6-0, while the Spartans drop to 1-5.
The Saints struck first scoring a goal on each of their first three possessions to take a 3-0 lead two minutes into the game. Tampa responded on their first possession of the game as Eileen Barrett found Mallory Mays for a goal to cut the deficit to 3-1. Limestone scored five straight goals, before Kerry Glenday connected with Emilie Barbosa for a goal make the score 8-2. The Saints scored three unanswered goals, including two from Kacie Harris, to take an 11-2 lead with 14:16 left in the first half. Morgan Cheripko won the ensuing draw control and Maggie Griffo converted a free position shot to cut the deficit to 11-3. After a Saints goal, Barrett netted an unassisted goal at the 10:58 mark in the first half. Limestone scored three more times to take a 15-4 lead at halftime.
The second half proved to be a continuation of the first as the Saints scored the first two goals of the half. Cheripko netted a free position shot, before Limestone scored three straight goals. Nikki Decenza, Cheipko, and Emilie Barbosa each found the cage for the 20-8 final.
Griffo, Barbosa, Mays, and Cheripko each tallied a pair of points in the game, Riley Sindone had two caused turnovers on the backline for the Spartans.
The Spartans return to action Thursday, March 13, when they host West Virginia Wesleyan at 1 p.m.
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blast, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.