No. 6 Spartans Set To Host No. 20 Lions in SSC Showdown

TAMPA, FLA. - The No. 6 University of Tampa Spartans will welcome in  No. 20 Saint Leo University to the Naimoli Family Athletic Complex Friday night for a Sunshine State Conference showdown.

The Spartans enter the contest with a record of 10-2 and 3-0 in SSC play. Last time out UT fell to the No. 10 Mercyhurst Lakers by a score of 11-5, all five of Tampa's goals were scored by different players on the attack. Defensively, the team hauled in 18 ground balls and forced four caused turnovers in the game.

The attack for Tampa is led by freshman Andrew Kew, who has notched an impressive 44 goals thus far and will be looking to add to his season total. Conor Whipple serves the spark for the offense with his 39 goals and team-leading 36 assists. Providing additional firepower for the UT offense is Jake Schmidt, Mike Morris, and Matt Bilak, who have all registered 19, 18, and 11 goals each.

Defensively, the Spartans are a talented unit as they have hauled in 310 ground balls and forced 93 caused turnovers. Setting the tone for the defense are A.J. Ferraro and Charlie Cummins. Ferraro leads all defenders with 31 groundballs and has seven caused turnovers while Cummins leads the team in the caused turnovers department with 16 and has amassed 23 ground balls of his own.

A.J. Arnold will be responsible for the netminding duties for UT in the matchup toting a record of 6-1, and boast a save percentage of 58.5 with 83 saves on the campaign.

The Lions come into the bout sporting a record of 8-3, and 1-2. SLU picked up the W in it's previous contest knocking off the No. 17 Ranked Lynn University Fighting Knights, by a score of 11-5. Freshman Justin Robinson led the attack scoring five goals in the matchup, and senior Dylan Yonts netted a goal of his own breaking Saint Leo's single-season record for points with 57.

Offensively, Dylan Yonts leads the Lions and country with his 47 goals and is currently averaging 4.27 goals per game. Serving as the catalyst for the SLU attack is Jake Gilmour with his 21 goals and team-leading 29 assists. Rounding out the attack for Saint Leo are Chad Marino and Matt Scharr, who have netted 13 and 10 goals apiece respectively.

On the defensive end, the Lions average 32.54 groundballs and 8.63 caused turnovers per game. Anchoring down the defensive unit is Eric Lee, who leads the team with 13 caused turnovers and has hauled in just as many groundballs this season. Tyler Vadas leads all defenders with his 15 groundballs.

In between the pipes for SLU will be senior Dave Moore, who's earned a record of 8-3, and has posted a save percentage of 54.5 with 102 saves under his belt.

Tampa leads the all-time series against Saint Leo 4-1, with the Spartans taking the previous matchup in 2015 by a score 10-9.

The contest will serve as senior night for six graduating Spartans. Game time is set for 8 P.M. Live stats, as well as a web broadcast, will be available for fans to follow the action via TampaSpartans.com.

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