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BOX SCORE

Despite Trailing Early Spartans Come Back to Advance to SSC Tournament Championship

TAMPA, FL. – The No.3 University of Tampa women’s lacrosse team advance to the SSC Championship for the third year in a row.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: No.3 University of Tampa 12, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 10

Records: Tampa (16-2, 8-0 SSC), ERAU (13-5, 4-3)

Location: Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex | Tampa, Fl

HOW IT HAPPENED:

First Quarter: The game opened with ERAU starting off hot. They scored four early unanswered goals. This forced Tampa to take a timeout to regroup. Tampa’s defensive intensity increased as they looked to get the ball back onto their side of the field. Tampa finally got on the board with a goal by Gia Colombo. Tampa then scored two more times to end the first and put them within one goal before the second quarter. The goals for the Spartans were scored as follows:

2:18 – Gia Colombo, unassisted

1:04 – Allie Peebles, assisted by Gia Colombo

0:10 – Sarah Hinkle, assisted by Olivia Mott

Score: 3-4 (ERAU)

Second Quarter: The second quarter opened with Tampa bringing the same intensity from the closing minutes of the first. They quickly tied the game at 4 with 12:22 left in the quarter with a goal by Sarah Hinkle. From here, Tampa kept the ball rolling scoring eight unanswered goals and taking the lead at halftime. The Spartan goals headed into halftime were scored as follows:

12:22 – Sarah Hinkle, unassisted

0:49 – Sophi Wrisk, unassisted

0:21 – Lizzie Pierpont, assisted by Sophi Wrisk

0:08 – Alyssa Romano, unassisted

Score: 7-4 (Tampa)

Third Quarter: The third quarter opened with Tampa getting on the board first again with a goal from Gia Colombo. ERAU snuck two goals in ending their scoring drought and putting them at six goals on the afternoon. Tampa responded with a goal from Olivia Mott but ERAU came back with another goal slowly decreasing Tampa’s lead. Tampa didn’t back down though pushing through until the end. The Spartan’s goals were scored as follows:

14:01 – Gia Colombo, unassisted

12:48 – Jenna Myhal, assisted by Cece Colombo

7:02 – Olivia Mott, unassisted

Score: 10-8 (Tampa)

Fourth Quarter: The last minutes of the game started with Tampa getting on the board first again with a goal from Julia Kolderman. ERAU scores again cutting Tampa’s lead to two. It was crunch time as Tampa looking to close out the game on top. Their defense stayed solid with O’Neill Galinson scooping up a groundball to a successful clear attempt securing the win and advancing to the SSC Championship game. The Spartan goals for the fourth quarter were scored as follows:

13:26 – Julia Kolderman, unassisted

11:45 – Lizzie Pierpont, assisted by Julia Kolderman

Final: 12-10 (Tampa)

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Gia Colombo, Lizzie Pierpont, and Sarah Hinkle led with two goals apiece
• Lizzie Pierpont scooped up six groundballs, Sarah Hinkle behind with four
• Alyssa Romano led the team winning five draw controls

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Alyssa Romano scored her first goal of the season
• Tampa goes to the SSC Championship for the third straight year and look to take it all this year

UP NEXT: The Spartans advance to the SSC Tournament Championship and compete on April 30 against TBA.

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Women’s Lacrosse Comeback Bid Falls Short in SSC Semis

TAMPA, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women’s lacrosse team made the first postseason appearance in the program’s short history on Thursday. Battling third-ranked Tampa in the semifinal round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament, the 14th-ranked Eagles held the Spartans to their second-lowest scoring total of the year as Tampa (16-2) came away with a 12-10 win to advance to the SSC Championship.
 
Alexa Zeruto led the way with six points on two goals and four assists, while her sister Kenley tallied four goals and an assist and Sallie Squire added three goals. Aubrey Fixen helped keep the Eagles in the game with a career-high 16 saves in the cage for the Blue and Gold.
 
The Eagles got off to a strong start on both sides of the field. After a strong defensive effort led to an empty possession for Tampa, the Eagles converted on the other end as Squire netted the game’s first goal at the 13:25 mark. The Zeruto duo combined for the second goal as Alexa ran behind the cage and fed Kenley on the right side to make it 2-0 and two more scores by Squire and Kenley Zeruto staked the Eagles to a 4-0 advantage.
 
The Spartans were able to recover from the early deficit, however and scored seven unanswered in the remainder of the first quarter, as well as the second to lead 7-4 at the half.
 
Two early goals helped the Spartans build their lead to 9-4 at the start of the third quarter, but 18 seconds after the second goal of the frame, the Zeruto sisters struck again. First, Kenley fed Alexa to cut the lead to four (9-5) and less than 90 seconds later, Alexa returned the favor finding Kenley to make it a 9-6 game.
 
Tampa was able get a goal with 7:04 left in the quarter, but once again the Zeruto combination put another goal on the board for the Blue and Gold and with 1:43 left in the period, Alexa Zeruto finished a pass from Anna Maurer to make it a two-goal (10-8) game heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
The Spartans widened the gap to four (12-8) in the first 11:30 of the fourth. The Eagles continued to battle, however, and Kenley Zeruto’s free position score at the 6:04 mark followed by Squire’s unassisted drive with 2:42 left reduced the deficit to two (12-10) once again. The Eagles had the only shot of the last two minutes, but Squire’s attempt was corralled by Tampa’s Alex Walling resulting in the 12-10 final.
 
Thursday’s game marked the end of the season for the Eagles who finished with a 13-5 overall record and were ranked as high as 13th in NCAA II in 2023.