Tars Unable to Overcome Tough Tampa Squad

No. 2 Seed Rollins (10-6)

7 -

16

No. 1 Seed and No. 5 Tampa (14-2)

Box Score

Tars Unable to Overcome Tough Tampa Squad in SSC Tournament Championship

Four Players Named to All-Tournament Team

TAMPA, Fla. (May 1, 2016) - Squaring off against the No. 1 seeded University of Tampa Spartans in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship game, the second-seeded Rollins men's lacrosse team was unable to thwart a robust Spartan squad, falling to Tampa by a final score of 16-7 on Sunday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Athletic Complex.

For their play in this year's tournament, Justin Diamond, Lucas Brush, Connor McClellan and Clay Phillips all earned a place on the 2016 Sunshine State Conference All-Tournament Team.

The loss drops the Tars to a mark of 10-6 on the season, while Tampa, who got the nod at No. 5 on the latest USILA DII Poll, advance to an overall record of 14-2.

Diamond, Phillips, and Morgan Baker netted two goals and one assist each, scoring nine of the Tars' 13 points on the afternoon. Adam Stefanowicz tallied a goal and an assist each, while Andrew Matthews as well as Dalton LeMaster each earned one assist to complete the scoring efforts for Rollins on the afternoon.

Alex Petsos and Brush each picked up a team high six ground balls, with Petsos also winning 12-of-19 faceoff attempts. Roy Hansen led the team in caused turnovers, earning two on the day.

The Spartans saw a game high four goals from Mike Morris, while Andrew Kew matched Morris in points with three goals and one assist. On the day, Conor Whipple led the game in points as he tallied two goals and a game high four assists for six points.

Alex Ferraro picked up a game high seven ground balls, while seven different Spartans caused one turnover apiece. On the afternoon, Alex Patton won 13-of-24 faceoff attempts for Tampa.

The Spartans opened up the first quarter with two straight, but the Tars cut the lead in half with a goal by Diamond off of an assist by Stefanowicz at the 8:32 mark to set the score at 2-1. The Spartans rattled off two more thanks to Jake Schmidt, who assist on the first and scored the second, closing out the first quarter with Tampa holding onto a 4-1 lead.

The second stanza opened up with a goal by Baker off of an assist by Phillips, with 13:09 on the clock before the half, pulling Rollins to within two, 4-2. However the Spartans rolled through the remainder of the second quarter scoring four unanswered goals to enter into the break with an 8-2 lead.

Rollins came out of the break and saw Phillips and Baker team-up yet again, this time with Phillips netting the goal off of a Baker assist at the 13:30 mark. Tampa answered back with two more to extend their advantage to 10-3 with 6:24 left in the quarter, but a goal by Baker off of an assist by Diamond with 5:28 on the clock halted the Spartan run. Tampa netted to more as the third period came to a close, setting the score at 12-4 entering into the final period.

The Tars scored two straight to open up fourth quarter action, but four straight from Tampa pulled the Spartans out to a 16-6 lead with 1:07 to play. A late goal by Stefanowicz with 18 ticks left on the clock closed out the scoring on the day, setting the final score at 16-7 in favor of Tampa.

The Rollins men's lacrosse program closes out their SSC Tournament run advancing to the Championship game for the first time in program history, and have set a new record for wins in a season, as well as posting the program's first ever winning campaign as they close out SSC Tournament action with a mark of 10-6.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the Rollins men's lacrosse team, fans can visit RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

2016 Sunshine State Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament

All-Tournament Team

Dylan Yonts Saint Leo

Cody Dyer Florida Southern

Justin Diamond Rollins

Lucas Brush Rollins

Connor McClellan Rollins

Clay Phillips Rollins

AJ Ferraro Tampa

Alex Patton Tampa

AJ Arnold Tampa

Andrew Kew Tampa

Conor Whipple Tampa (Most Outstanding Player)