Women's Lacrosse Advances to SSC Championship Game for the First Time in Program History

WINTER PARK, Fla. –The No. 6 University of Tampa women's lacrosse team UPSET the No. 3 Rollins College Tars 14-10 in the Sunshine State Conference semifinals. The University of Tampa will advance to the Sunshine State Conference Championship for the first time in program history where they will face conference rival, Florida Southern. This is also the first time in program history that the Spartans have defeated a top-5 ranked opponent.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: No. 6 Tampa Spartans 14, No. 3 Rollins College Tars 10
Records: Tampa (13-3), Rollins (14-2)
Location: Barker Family Stadium at Cahall-Sandspur Field | Winter Park, Fla. 
All-time Series: The Tars lead the all-time series over the Spartans 7-2.   
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Half

• The first goal of the game was scored by Tampa's Rachel Crawford.
• Five minutes into the contest, UT then scored again this time from senior captain, Allie Popelar off the assist by Kristyn Staley. 
• Rollins then earned their first goal of the game with 21:33 on the board.
• Tampa answered with a goal from Kayla Kosubinsky. 
• The Tars then netted a goal narrowing Tampa's lead to one. 
• Senior captain, Caroline Forester then netted her first goal of the contest off the assist by Crawford.
• With 14:30 on the clock, the Tars netted their third goal. 
• Forester then scored again for Tampa off a free position shot. 
• The Rollins Tars answered with a goal of their own. Tampa still held the lead 5-4.
• Junior captain, Claire Swanson then netted her first goal of the contest of the assist by Forester.
• The Tars then scored their fifth goal, man-up.
• With 2:49 left in the half, Crawford scored Tampa's last goal half off a free position attempt. 
• Heading into halftime, the Spartans led the Tars 7-5. 

2nd Half

• The first goal of the second half was scored by Rollins. 
• However, three minutes later,Swanson netted her second goal of the contest giving Tampa the 8-6 lead. 
• The Tars refused to quit with another goal with 21:55 left on the clock. 
• Carly Vaccaro then stated a goal for UT, off the pass by Crawford. 
• Rollins kept Tampa's lead to one scoring once again.
• Caroline Forester then scored again for the Spartans, this time off the assist by Vaccaro. 
• Vaccaroherself then netted a goal with 10:41 remaining in the contest.
• A minute later Swanson scored giving Tampa the 12-8 lead. 
• Refusing to quit, Forester scored again for UT, netting a goal off the assist by Crawford.
• Finally, the Tars netted back-to-back goals with 2:18 remaining.  Tampa remained on top 13-10. 
• With :29 seconds left in the contest, Carly Vaccaro scored one last time for the Spartans.
• The No. 6 University of Tampa Spartans defeated the No. 3 Rollins College Tars by a final score of 14-10.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Caroline Forester and Rachel Crawford tore it up for the Spartans on offense. Forester had four goals and one assist in addition to her two ground balls, while Crawford netted two goals with a team-high of three assists. 
• Carly Vaccaro also had three goals and one assist in the contest. Vaccaro sealed the Spartans trip to the Championship, with her third goal coming in the last thirty seconds of the contest.
• Claire Swanson stated a team-high of five draw control wins. Additionally, she stated three goals, four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• Defensively, Alexa Scudillo and had two caused turnovers for UT in addition to leading the team in ground balls with seven. 
• Also on defense, senior captain Abby Coccagna had two caused turnovers and three ground balls. 
• Bridget Sutter played AMAZING at goalie for the Spartans. The IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week faced 34 shots and logged 24 saves.    

UP NEXT: The Spartans will compete in the Sunshine State Conference Championship, hosted by No. 1 seed, Florida Southern, on Sunday, April 28^th. The game will take place at the Barnett Athletic Complex with the time TBA. 

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