Women's Lacrosse to Battle FSC in SSC Tournament
The Spartans will travel to Lakeland, Fla. to compete in the program's first-ever postseason game, meeting host and top-seed Florida Southern on Friday.
LAKELAND, Fla. – Participating in its first-ever postseason contest, the University of Tampa women's lacrosse team earned the fourth-seed in the 2016 Sunshine State Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament hosted by Florida Southern College. Tampa will meet the top-seeded FSC Mocs on Friday, April 29 for a noon start at Bryant Stadium.
The Spartans enter the SSC showdown with a 5-9 overall record and garnered a berth in postseason play after securing an 8-7 win over Saint Leo University in their previous matchup.
UT used an overtime goal from freshman Caroline Forester to seal its 8-7 win over the Lions. The Spartans dominated Saint Leo in the opening half before the hosting Lions returned in the second stanza with a retooled offense to end regulation in a 7-7 tie.
Tampa will rely on goalkeeper Caili Guilday, as the senior transfer has set the single-season records in both saves (123) and ground balls (46) in her lone campaign with the Spartans. Senior Amanda Parker owns the single-season record in caused turnovers with 21, breaking the mark set by Amanda Voges during the 2015 campaign. Fellow defender Liz Kramer has 20 caused turnovers through 14 games her freshman season while Abby Coccagna ranks second in ground balls with 29 in her first collegiate year.
Leading the Spartan offense is junior Voges and sophomores Amanda Rom and Natalie Carraway. Attacker Voges leads the team in goals with 28 on the season while Rom and Carraway have 12 goals each. Attacker Carraway is the Spartans leader in assists, totaling 15 for 27 points on the year. Rom has dominated on the draw, securing a team-best 42 draw controls for UT.
Florida Southern picked up the first-seed and hosting duties after concluding SSC play with a pristine 4-0 record. The Mocs bested then No. 3 Rollins College 15-6 to win the regular season title and secure home-field advantage throughout the tournament.
Attackers Kendall Kerge and Ashley Robertson lead the Mocs arsenal, as the duo has netted 40 and 37 goals, respectively. Sophomores Emily Santoli and Meghan O'Brien have notched 55 points each as Santoli leads FSC on the draw with 54 draw controls.
FSC took the regular season matchup by an 18-7 final score. The seven Spartans goals was the most scored on the Mocs by any SSC team, as the two squads met at Bryant Stadium on April 3rd.
The first SSC semifinal matchup will take place at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 29 with live stats and a live video webcast being made available courtesy of Florida Southern College.
Click here to access the tournament page
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