Above – Shane Guinta made 11 saves in the win photo and article courtesy of TampaSpartans.com TAMPA, Fla. – Shane Giunta made 11 saves in his first career start, while eight different players netted at least one goal to help the No. 5 University of Tampa men’s lacrosse team defeat Saint Leo 9-6 Saturday night at the Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex. With the win the Spartans improves to 10-1 and 3-0 in the SSC, while the Lions fall to 7-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Saint Leo struck first as Matt Obermeyer (Winter Springs HS)  score the first two goals of the game to give the Lions a 2-0 advantage.  Tampa responded 35 seconds later as Jake Rooney (Timber Creek HS) found Chance Smith for a goal to cut the lead to 2-1 with 7:11 left in the first quarter.   Two minutes later, Nate Tembi picked up the ground ball, drove the field, and netted his first goal of the season to even the score 2-2 after the opening period. Trevor Calleja won the opening faceoff of the second quarter and connected with Mike Morris for a goal eight seconds into the period.  Minutes later Matt Bilak put a well-placed shot past the keeper to extend Tampa’s lead to 4-2.  The Spartans defense held Saint Leo scoreless for the final 22 minutes of the first half. Jake Rooney and James Lopilato each scored a goal to start the second half and extend Tampa’s lead to 6-2.  The score remained that way until the 1:13 mark when the Lions netted a goal.  The Spartans struck one more time in the third period as Riley Piper found Conor Whipple (Saint Andrews School)  for a goal with eight seconds remaining. Tampa struck first in the final period as Whipple found Brian Patton for a goal to extend the lead to 8-3.  After back-to-back Saint Leo goals, Bilak netted an unassisted goal to give Tampa the 9-5 advantage.  The Lions scored one more time for the 9-6 final. Whipple led the Spartans with a goal and two assists, while Rooney and Bilak each tallied a pair of points.  Callaja finished the game 10-19 on faceoffs and picked up four ground balls. Guinta improved to 2-0 in the cage this season, making seven of his eleven saves in the first half.  Tembi picked up a team high five ground balls. Tonight’s win marks the third straight seasons that the Spartans have won at least 10 games. The Spartans will return to action next weekend when they travel to New York for a pair of games. Tampa will face Robert Wesleyan Thursday, April 3, at 4 p.m. and then face No. 11 Mercyhurst Saturday, April 5, at 1 p.m. Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blast, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.