Tampa Wins First SSC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament
TAMPA, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – The No. 6 Tampa Spartans made history on Saturday night by defeating the No. 9 Florida Southern Moccasins 11-6 at Pepin Stadium in the first-ever Sunshine State Conference Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship Game.
The Spartans and Moccasins will now find out if they will compete in the NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse tournament, which begins May 7. In the last NCAA South Region rankings, Tampa ranked No. 3 and Florida Southern ranked No. 5.
Tampa (15-2) scored two goals in a span of 11 seconds to begin the first quarter. Kyle Hemrick netted the first goal on an assist from Conor Whipple on a man-up opportunity. Whipple then scored an unassisted goal to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
Florida Southern (11-4) cut the deficit in half nine minutes later (4:35) when Dane Sorensen scored his Division II leading 62nd goal of the season on a pass from Kyle McLaughlin.
The Spartans scored the only two goals of the second quarter to take a 4-1 halftime lead. The goals were scored by Matt Bilak and Chance Smith.
The Moccasins’ Chris Murphy scored back-to-back goals in a three-minute span to begin the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 4-3. But the Spartans responded with three goals in three minutes to push their lead to 7-3.
Sorensen scored his second goal of the game to bring Florida Southern within three goals to begin the fourth quarter, but Tampa responded with two goals to take a 9-4 lead.
Both teams scored twice more each before the final horn to give the Spartans an 11-6 victory.
The Spartans’ Andrew Failla made eight saves in the victory, while Matt Lalli made 12 saves for the Moccasins.
Tampa’s Jake Rooney finished with a hat trick after scoring four of the Spartans’ 13 goals in the semifinal. Rooney was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after the game.
Joining Rooney on the first-ever SSC Men’s Lacrosse All-Tournament Team were: Andrew Failla (Tampa), Larry Gress (Tampa), Marty Heyn (Tampa), Matt Lalli (Florida Southern), DJ Lubs (Florida Southern), Matt Obermeyer (Saint Leo), Dane Sorensen (Florida Southern), Grant VanOverbeke (Florida Southern), Jack Vonarb (Rollins) and Conor Whipple (Tampa).
Most Outstanding Player Jake Rooney and SSC Commissioner Ed Pasque (Photo taken by Mike Carlson)
Crowd at Pepin Stadium for the first-ever SSC Men's Lacrosse Championship Game (Photo taken by Mike Carlson)
Tampa Head Coach Rory Whipple getting the Gatorade Bath. (Photo taken by Mike Carlson)
Coach Whipple enjoying the bath. (Photo taken by Mike Carlson)