via press release – photo via SL web site   SAINT LEO, Fla. – The No. 17 Saint Leo men’s lacrosse team used an eight-goal second quarter to jump on the visiting Westminster Griffins, and they never looked back as they took the game, 16-9, on Saturday afternoon at University Turf Stadium. Saint Leo saw junior Jake Gilmour lead the way with six points as the attackman tallied three goals and three assists. Fellow juniors Kyle Pauwels and Anthony Visintin each added a hat trick as well, while Charlie Kurtenbach tacked on two goals. The Lions defense was prime on Saturday afternoon as junior Jake Bye led the team with four caused turnovers and Zach Lysyck added three as well. Thomas Tatarian finished the game with 15 saves and a 68.8-save percentage. The Basics Saint Leo topped Westminster, 16-9 Location: Saint Leo, Fla. | University Turf Stadium Records: #17 Saint Leo 5-1 | Westminster 1-1 How it happened 1Q| Saint Leo dominated the face in the opening period, winning all six that were taken. The Lions used the possession to their advantage as Jake Kavanagh opened the game with the Lions’ first goal. Westminster countered with back-to-back scores before Jake Gilmour found Kyle Pauwels to even the game. Matt Shand scored another for the Lions with under a minute of action left to play in the opening period. | Saint Leo 3-2 2Q | Gilmour gave the Lions a two-goal lead with his first score of the afternoon, and just a minute later, Josh Kaufling would tack on another. The Griffins would cut it back to 5-3 with a Troy Vance goal before Anthony Visintin would score two straight to give the Lions a 7-3 advantage. The Gilmour-to-Pauwels connection combined to score another goal with 5:20 left in the half. Westminster scored their fourth goal of the game, but in the final two minutes of action, the Lions would score three more as Kurtenbach, Gilmour, and Ethan Ticehurst would find the back of the net. Saint Leo again dominated the face, going nine of 11. | Saint Leo 11-4 3Q | Pauwels would sneak in his third goal of the game just 15 seconds into the action. Vance added his second goal of the game for the Griffins with 13:08 left in the third. Visintin found the back of the net for his third goal, giving the Lions a 13-5 lead. A full six minutes would pass before the next Lions’ goal, but the goal did not disappoint as the Lions’ ball movement was impeccable as Gilmour found Kurtenbach for the score. Gilmour would tack on his third of the game for the Lions final goal of the period. Thomas Tatarian finished with eight saves in the third quarter.| Saint Leo 15-5 4Q | Westminster came out firing in the last quarter as they looked to get back into the game. They opened with back to back scores in the first two minutes, but a Zach Lysyk goal ended their run. The visitors would score two more goals in the final period, but their run started far too late as Saint Leo’s lead was too big for the Griffins to overcome. | Saint Leo 16-9 Points to Note Jake Gilmour now has 132 career points and moved into 5^th on the all-time leaderboard. Thomas Tatarian‘s 15 saves in the game is a new career high. Ethan Ticehurst scored his first career goal for the Lions. This was Anthony Visintin‘s first career hat trick Mitch Wilson went 22-24 on the faceoff and led the team with 15 ground balls, which marks a new career high. Up Next Saint Leo hosts Alabama-Huntsville on Tuesday, March 14 for a 7 p.m. contest.