Jupiter alum Jackson Bashaw 2G/1A, East Lake alum Jackson Day 1G, St Stephen’s alum Matthew Vara 1G, Canterbury alum Carson Fuchs 1A for Tampa. Jupiter Christian alum Caleb Southard 1G, King’s Academy alum Brad Wharton 1G for PBA.

via the school press releases/websites

BOX SCORE

Milani’s 2nd Eight-Point Game Launches Tampa to 8th Straight Victory

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – No.3 Tampa earns first road conference win against the Sailfish behind explosive offensive performance.

The Spartans wasted no time, as Andrew Milani netted the opening goal less than one minute into the game. Owen Miller would record another goal for Tampa just twenty seconds later. The Sailfish would respond a couple minutes after, before Charlie Bolesh netted a goal off an assist from teammate Alex Poma. Tampa would then net consecutive goals behind Nick Papa‘s man-up tally and Andrew Milani‘s goal from Jackson Bashaw. Bashaw would go on to net his own goal less than one minute after his assist. Behind two buzzer beater goals with only five seconds left from Milani and Canyon Birch, the Spartans would head into the second quarter with a six-goal lead.

The second 15 minutes would begin with the Sailfish scoring a goal, cutting the Spartans’ lead to five. Milani would find Papa in front of the net, allowing Tampa to regain the six-goal lead. Bolesh would net his second of the game before Palm Beach Atlantic netted one to keep the Sailfish alive. About 10 seconds later, Alex Poma found the back of the net, cushioning the Spartans’ lead. Tampa would go on to score three consecutive goals from Jackson Day, Miller, and Aidan Cassara, to extend their lead to nine headed into halftime.

The second half began with Papa finishing off his hat trick. The Tampa offense would go on a four-goal run after this, behind Bashaw, Milani, and Friend to extend the lead to 14. The Sailfish got two back late in the quarter, cutting the Spartans’ lead to 12 headed into the final 15 minutes.

The final 15 minutes began with Evan Gibbs extending the Spartan lead. Palm Beach Atlantic would get one back with just over eight and a half minutes left in the game. Wyatt Antkiewicz recorded his first goal as a Spartan, and Tommy Ortega recorded his second goal of the season with just over six minutes left in the matchup. With a buzzer-beater by Matthew Vara, the Spartans’ explosive offense proved too much for the Sailfish to handle.

Stat of the Game – Andrew Milani recorded his second 8 point game of the season (5G,3A).

TAMPA POST-GAME NOTES 

• The Spartans have won eight straight.
• Luca Mercaldo and Charlie Villa split net time, each recording 4 saves.
• Milani led Tampa in goals, with 5.
• The Spartan defense held the Sailfish scoreless for 13 minutes in the third quarter.
• Aidan Cassara, Matthew Vara, and Wyatt Antkiewicz each netted their first goals as a Spartan.
• Kevin Stiff and Milani led Tampa in caused turnovers with 2.

UP NEXT – Tampa closes their brief road trip on Wednesday as they travel to take on Embry-Riddle at 4:00p.m.

*****

Men’s Lacrosse Drops Matchup to No. 3 Tampa

by Simeon Strauss, Athletic Communications Assistant

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic men’s lacrosse team lost to the University of Tampa by a score of 22-8 on Saturday. The Sailfish (4-3) have now lost their third straight game since opening up conference play.

In the first quarter, the Spartans scored a goal within the first 40 seconds of play, and they continued to try and put the heat on the ‘Fish. But the starting goalie, Brendan Pedisich, made two great saves after the Tampa goal, which led to a Sailfish score. The goal was scored by Sarver Adams with nearly 13 minutes remaining in the period. The Spartans responded back with three goals in a row to extend the lead to 4-1 until Caleb Southard was able to respond with a goal of his own to cut the lead to two. The Sailfish had some opportunities to score off some Tampa turnovers and missed shots, but just couldn’t find the inside of the net, and the Spartans pushed their lead to 7-2 by the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, Keegan Southard forced a Tampa turnover and picked up the ground ball, which led to a PBA score by Brad Wharton to make it 7-3. At a little bit under the nine-minute mark, the ‘Fish found themselves down 9-3 after a couple Spartan goals. Tampa won the faceoff after their last score, but Jake Bacilek caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball, and then Cooper Porter scored a goal to cut it to five. The Spartans responded within 10 seconds of the PBA goal with a goal of their own, closed out the half on a four-to-nothing run, and were up 13-4 on the ‘Fish.

Tampa continued their run to begin the second half, going up 18-4, making it their biggest lead of the game. PBA did manage to score a couple more times in the third. The first goal didn’t come until the two-minute mark, and Porter was the one to thank for the goal after a missed shot wide by Adams just seconds before. After a penalty on Ty Wright, the Spartans tried to use the extra-man opportunity to their advantage but missed a shot, and the ‘Fish were off to the other end after Ben Lightsey picked up the ground ball. With about 30 seconds left, Hunter Hopman scored the final goal of the period to make the game 18-6 in Tampa’s favor.

Tampa would not let up, as they scored their 19th goal of the game within a minute and a half into the fourth quarter. The ‘Fish still had some fight in them, but it took them until about the 8-minute mark to score another goal. Henry Sloyan was the creator of the play with the assist, and Adams was the one to thank for the score. Unfortunately, the ‘Fish were no match for Tampa, as they got their lead back to 14 at 21-7. Sloyan did score one final goal for the ‘Fish on a man-up opportunity, but Tampa responded right back in the final seconds to make it 22-8 as the final score of the game.

The Spartans took 49 shots to PBAs 25 on the game, and the ‘Fish did force 20 turnovers but just couldn’t execute on the offensive end. Adams and Porter led the team in goals with two each, and Porter also had two ground balls to go with his stat sheet. Bacilek and Wright were the leaders in ground balls with three each, and Bacilek caused three turnovers on the defensive end. Pedisich played about 34 minutes in the game until he was replaced in goal by Ben Lightsey. Pedisich had eight saves on 15 goal attempts in his time in the net, and Lightsey had four saves on seven goal attempts.

The Sailfish will host the Lions from Saint Leo University next Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. and will look to bounce back to get their first conference win of the season.