Men's Lacrosse Wins Sixth Consecutive Sunshine State Conference Championship

TAMPA, Fla. –  The No. 19 University of Tampa Spartans defeated the Saint Leo University Lions by a final score of 13-10 in the Sunshine State Conference Championship. This is Tampa's sixth consecutive SSC Championship title. Due to their outstanding performances during the SSC tournament, five Spartans were named All-SSC Championship Team selections. First, Ross Dickerson was named tournament MVP. The other all-tournament selections included Bryan Wright, Bryan Karn, Matt Vetter, and Andrew Kew. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:


Final:  UT Spartans 13, SLU Lions 10
Records: Tampa (14-5), Saint Leo (10-7)
Location: Naimoli Family Field | Tampa, Fla.  
All-time Series:  The Spartans lead the all-time series with the Lions 9-3.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Period

• Saint Leo was the first team on the board with a goal from Andrew Buck.
• Colin White responded for the Spartans with a goal off the pass by Matt Vetter. 
• Once again, the Lions took the advantage netting another goal. 
• However, UT answered with the last three goals of the first period. 
• The first was an unassisted goal by senior captain Andrew Kew.
• Luke Curran then netted the second off the pass by Shane Hanlon.
• Freshman Harry Kilkowski scored the final goal of the period. 
• Heading into the second period the Spartans led the Lions 4-2. 

2nd Period

• Kew netted his second goal of the contest to start the second period. He was assisted by Jake Mosher McGraw. 
• Saint Leo answered with a goal with 12:46 remaining in the half. 
• Tampa then took the 6-3 lead with another goal from Kilkowski off the assist by Ross Dickerson. 
• The Lions then narrowed Tampa's lead to two with another goal.
• Kew then scored his third goal of the contest off the pass by Chris Cox. 
• The Lions then netted back-to-back goals. 
• Kew earned the last goal of the first half, off the assist by Matt Vetter.  
• Heading into halftime, the Spartans led the Lions 8-6.

 3rd Period

• To start the second half, Jake Mosher McGraw netted one, assisted by Vetter. 
• The Lions refused to quit netting their seventh goal with 13:11 on the clock. 
• Kilkowski then scored again for UT, this time from Kansai Garey. 
• Colin White then gave Tampa their 11^thpoint off the assist by Kilkowski.
• Tampa's final goal of the third period was scored by Bryan Wright. 
• The Lions scored twice more to end the period.  
• At the end of the third period, Tampa held the lead over Saint Leo 12-9. 

4th Period

• SLU scored a goal with 7:37 remaining in the contest. 
• The final goal of the contest was netted by Bryan Wright off the assist by Harry Kilkowski. 
• The No. 19 University of Tampa Spartans defeated the Saint Leo Lions by a final score of 13-10.
• Tampa earned their sixth consecutive Sunshine State Conference Championship title.   

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Andrew Kew powered the Spartans offense with four goals followed by freshman Harry Kilkowski who had three. 
• Kilkowski also earned two assists in the contest. 
• Both Bryan Wright and Colin White had two goals in the contest. 
• Luke Curran and Jake Mosher McGraw each had one. 
• Matt Vetter led the Spartans in assists with three. 
• Defensively, Wright, White, Nicholas Perrot, and Sam Collingwood all earned a caused turnover for Tampa. 
• Vetter, Wright, and Luke Robideaux all tallied three ground balls. 
• Ross Dickerson had an outstanding day for UT, winning 23-26 faceoffs from the X. Dickerson also had an assist and a team-high of 18 ground balls. 
• Bryan Karn played keeper for the entire sixty. Karn faced 20 shots and recorded 10 saves on the day.  

UP NEXT:
 The Spartans NCAA tournament fate will be announced during the selection show on Sunday, May 5^th. The 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championships brackets will be announced the first weekend in May prior to first-round competition

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