Men’s Lacrosse Hosts Rollins in the SSC Tournament
TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 19 University of Tampa men’s lacrosse team is set to host the Rollins College Tars on Thursday, April 25th at 8:00 p.m. for the Sunshine State Conference Semifinals.
The Matchup: University of Tampa (12-5, SSC 6-1) vs. Rollins College (10-4, SSC 4-3)
Date/Time: Thursday, April 25that 8:00 p.m.
Location: Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex | Tampa, Fla.
Last Time Out: The University of Tampa Spartans defeated the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish by a final score of 21-10. Andrew Kew scored five goals in the contest, becoming the all-time Division II goal leader now with a career total of 248. Kew breaks this record set in the years 1998-01 by Andrew Wasik from Pace University. Following Kew‘s offensive efforts was that of fellow senior Matt Vetter, who earned four goals and two assists in the contest. Ross Dickerson went 24-29 off the faceoff X. He led the team in ground balls with 13. Bryan Karn, B.J. Borowski and Anthony Carusoall logged time at the keeper position. Karn faced 11 shots and recorded four save on the day.
About the Spartans: Tampa is currently 12-5 on the 2019 season, and finished regular season SSC competition 6-1. After falling out of the USILA national ranking for the first time since the 2015 season, UT has battled their way back into the national spotlight, and now sits at No. 19 in the most recent coaches poll. The Spartans are led offensively by senior Andrew Kew. Kew has 81 points on the season made up of a team-high of 50 goals and 31 assists. Senior Matt Vetter is second on the team in points with 60. Vetter has scored 31 goals and has stated 29 assists as well. Sophomore Colin White is third on the team in points with 54. He has 44 goals and 10 assists on the season. Defensively, Sam Collingwood has a team-high of 21 caused turnovers on top of his 21 ground balls, while Luke Robideaux has 13 caused turnovers and 30 ground balls. Junior Ross Dickerson remains one of the best faceoff specialists in the nation. He currently has the fourth best face-off winning percentage in all Division II with 75.1%. Dickerson has won 317-422 face-offs from the X and has a team-high of 190 recorded ground balls. Finally, at keeper, the Spartans have been primarily using the returning SSC Freshman of the Year, B.J. Borowski. Borowski has 97 saves on the season and a goals against average of 11.01. This is the Spartans sixth straight SSC Tournament appearance. Tampa has won the tournament the last five consecutive years and is looking to hoist the trophy once again this season.
About the Tars: The Tars are currently 10-4 overall, ending regular SSC competition with a 4-3 record. Offensively the Tars are led by #16 Jeremy Slocumb, #10 Greg Taicher, and # 20 Joey Cinque. The three have 36, 34, and 31 points respectively, with Cinque leading the Tars in goals with 30, and Slocumb having earned a team-high in assists with 18. Defensively, Rollins biggest threat is #53 Evan Schimek who has caused the most turnovers for the Tars this season with 27. He also has stated 35 ground balls. Rollins faceoff specialist is #15 Kyle Sudol who has a record of 138-246 from the X. Finally, at goalkeeper, the Tars have primarily used #34 Andrew Hoemann who has a goals against average of 9.73 and had 110 saves in the regular season.
Series History (Men’s): The Spartans have never lost to the Tars. Tampa leads the all-time series over Rollins 10-0.