The Panthers Defeat the Spartans 20-8 Ending Tampa's Season

LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 5 Florida Tech Panthers defeat the No. 16 University of Tampa Spartans 20-8, ending the Spartans season with an overall record of 12-6.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: No. 16 Tampa Spartans 8, No. 5 Florida Tech Panthers 20
Records: Tampa (12-6), Florida Tech (16-1)
Location:  2018 SSC Women's Lacrosse Championship | Lakeland, Fla.
All-time Series: The Panthers lead the all-time series over the Spartans 5-0.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Half

• In the first six seconds of the game, the Panthers netted the first goal, putting FIT on the board first.
• Then with 20:19 on the clock, SSC Player of the Year, Lauren Tybor, netted a back-to-back goals for the Panthers giving them the 3-0 lead.
• FIT went up 4-0 with 13:44 remaining in the half, causing Head Coach Kelly Gallagher to take a timeout.
• Finally, with 12:00 minutes left in the half, Allie Popelar earned Tampa's first goal of the game, the assist from Natalie Carraway.
• Shortly after the Panthers retaliated with another goal.
• UT then cut FIT's lead to three with a goal from Caroline Forester off the assist by Megan Sengelmann.
• Forester then netted another goal for the Spartans with 9:08 remaining in the half, this time the assist from Shannon Sweeney.
• FIT then scored three unanswered goals with 3:26 on the clock giving them the 8-3 lead.
• Carly Vaccaro then earned her first goal of the game, Tampa now trailing by four.
• The Panthers then scored twice more with 1:45 left in the half.
• Not stepping off the gas, the FIT took a 12-4 lead with another goal.
• Rachel Crawford then netted a goal for the Spartans off the assist from Popelar.
• Tybor then earned her fourth goal of the game with :37 seconds remaining in the half.
• At the end of the first half, the No. 5 Florida Tech Panthers led the No. 16 University of Tampa Spartans 13-5.

2nd Half

• Coming out of the half, the Panthers picked up right where they left off with a goal from Lauren Tybor.
• Vaccaro then netted her second goal of the game for the Spartans. UT now trails by eight.
• The Panthers then took the 16-6 lead with two more goals, this initiated the running clock.
• Sweeney then scored her first goal of the contest, off the assist by Graeme Eber. The Spartans now trail the Panthers 16-7.
• However, FIT then scored four more goals, now up 20-7.
• Forester then scored her third goal of the game and the final goal of the contest.
• The No. 5 Florida Tech Panthers defeat the No. 16 University of Tampa Spartans by a final score of 20-8.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Forester led the Spartans offensively with three goals followed by Vaccaro with two.
• Popelar and Sweeney each had one assist for the Spartans in addition to logging a goal.
• Abby Coccagna led the Spartans defensively with two caused turnovers.
• Claire Swanson led the Spartans with six draw controls.
• SSC Freshman of the Year, Bridget Sutter, played the majority of the contest in the cage. The freshman recorded 12 saves for UT.

SSC ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM:
Caroline Forester
Bridget Sutter

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