Spartans Stunned by Oilers in Overtime

TAMPA, Fla. – Being forced into a sudden-death overtime period, the University of Tampa women's lacrosse team was dealt a heart-breaking defeat at the hands of the University of Findlay on Thursday night at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex.

The Spartans sit 0-4 on the season while the Oilers draw even at 2-2 after the 9-8 contest.

Tampa was in the driver's seat for most of the contest, as the defense limited Findlay to just three shots in the opening period.  UT took 11 shots at the Findlay net and ended the opening half with a 3-1 lead. 

Defender Marissa Killpack caused four turnovers combining with three groundballs.  Midfielder Allie Popelar forced three Oiler turnovers while adding two groundballs.  The freshman led the team in draw controls with three.  Freshman Liz Kramer added two caused turnovers and two groundballs on defense.

Junior Amanda Voges began the scoring attack for Tampa, netting the first goal of the game off of a feed from Amanda Rom with 28:05 on the clock.  The Oilers would turn to their own leading-scorer as Kyra Bradley evened the contest with a goal at the 23:37 minute mark.

Attacker Voges would assist the second score for Tampa as Caroline Forester netted her first collegiate goal as the freshman gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead.  Sophomore Madison Creech further padded the lead in the final minutes of the half as the attacker found the back of the net with 1:49 left in the opening stanza, assisted by none-other-than Voges.

Findlay regrouped in the second period, beginning with a free-position goal from Mackenzie Barnwell to pull within a score of Tampa at 3-2. Less than a minute later, Voges would convert her own free-position attempt.

Freshmen Paige Johnson and Forester would score two more goals to give the Spartans a commanding 6-2 lead before the Oiler offense began to take shape.  Bradley netted her second goal of the contest before UT attacker Creech mirrored with her own second score of the game. 

Voges would push the score to an 8-4 advantage on a free-position shot before Findlay would score four unanswered goals in the final seven minutes of regulation.  The two squads would meet in overtime as the score sat 8-8 as the clock ran out.

Both teams fought for the draw in the sudden-death overtime period but Findlay would come away with the ball as Barnwell netted the game-winner near the two-minute mark to end the contest in favor of the Oilers.

Voges finished with five points, scoring the hat-trick while adding two assists.  Both Creech and Forester scored two goals for UT.

Senior Caili Guilday started in the net for Tampa, playing the complete game while allowing nine goals and picking up seven saves for the loss.  Opposite Guilday was Findlay netminder Brooke Eicher who allowed eight goals while stopping 10 shots on goal for her second win of the season.

Tampa will continue its homestand with a 7:30 p.m. contest Saturday, meeting the University of Alabama-Huntsville for the first time.

Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com as well as the new UT Spartans Front Row app, available at both the Apple App Store and through Google Play, free of charge.

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