Pair of Spartans Earn SSC Men’s Lacrosse Awards

WINTER PARK, Fla. - The University of Tampa's Conor Whipple and Andrew Failla were recognized as the Sunshine State Conference men's lacrosse Players of the Week, presented by VALIC.

Whipple, a sophomore attacker from Tampa, Fla., had a career day against Florida Tech scoring five goals and dishing out six assists for 11 points. The 11 points set a new Spartan program record for points in a game. He also scored the game-winner and one man-up goal, while also collecting five ground balls.

In a matchup with No. 3 Limestone, Whipple led the No. 4 Spartans with six ground balls. In the 8-5 setback, Whipple recorded a goal and an assist to finish the week with six goals and seven assists for 13 points.

Failla, a sophomore goalie from Balwin, N.Y., made eight savesin 36 minutes of action against Florida Tech in a 21-13 victory to earn his eighth win of the season.

He followed that game making a career-high 16 saves against No. 3 Limestone in an 8-5 setback. Despite the loss in the No. 3/No. 4 matchup, Failla allowed just 8 goals on 33 shots while making 16 saves to keep the Spartans in the game. Six of his saves came in the third period where he held Limestone scoreless. He also picked up three ground balls.

For more than half a century, VALIC has served as the leading retirement plan provider for higher education, as well as for K-12 schools and school districts, healthcare, government and other not-for-profit institutions. VALIC has more than $65 billion in total assists under management and manages plans for nearly 25,000 groups serving nearly two million plan participants. VALIC represents The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., and VALIC Retirement Services Company.