via press release   BOCA RATON, Fla. – In a highly anticipated and tense matchup at home Saturday evening, Lynn University’s lacrosse team rushed out to an early lead against the fifth-ranked University of Tampa Spartans. Following a 10-10 tie after three quarters of play, the high-octane Spartans turned it on in the final stanza to defeat the Fighting Knights, 15-10. INSIDE THE MATCHUP: Final: Tampa 15, Lynn 10 Records: #5 Tampa (7-1, 1-0 SSC), Lynn (5-3, 0-1 SSC) Location: Bobby Campbell Stadium | Boca Raton, Fla. Series: Tampa leads 4-0 all-time Get Social: Twitter – @Lynn_Knights | Instagram – @Lynn_Knights | Facebook – /LynnFightingKnights   HOW IT HAPPENED: First Quarter

• The Fighting Knights dominated the early parts of the contest, notching the first four goals of the game to garner crucial momentum. 
• Austin Jerhoff and Mikey Urso opened up the scoring two minutes in off passes from Jacob Van Leenenand Angelo Beacon-Paglia.
• Brian Kiel and Urso then netted unassisted goals to make it four unanswered for Lynn.
• The teams traded goals in the closing minutes of the period, with Urso completing the first-quarter hat trick and Kiel picking up another right before the horn.

Second Quarter

• The Blue & White entered the second quarter up 6-2, but four straight from the visitors made it a tie game.
• Following the stalemate, Kiel buried his third of the game and Anthony Rainone got on the scoreboard a minute after.
• Tampa put away three more, but Jerhoff capitalized on a man-up situation at the one-minute warning as the teams trekked into the locker room all knotted up, 9-9.

Third Quarter

• The offensive pace slowed down in the third quarter with both teams tallying just one goal.
• Urso connected to Jerhoff right away to give Lynn its third hat trick of the game.

Fourth Quarter

• The final period was all Tampa as the visitors strung together five unanswered goals to close out the victory.
• Conor Whipple notched the first three with Andrew Kew closing out the final two, all unassisted.

STATS OF THE GAME:

• Three Fighting Knights finished with hat tricks, accounting for nine of Lynn’s 10 goals.
• Beacon-Paglia’s two helpers marked the first multi-assist game of his career.
• Christopher Lasprogata led his squad in both faceoff wins (9) and groundballs (7).
• Pat Brothers made 15 stops between the pipes for Lynn while the Spartans rotated in three netminders throughout the game, combining for 12 saves.
• Whipple, the 2014 SSC Player for the Year, was a force to be reckoned with as he finished with eight goals and one assist.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Fighting Knights posted their best shooting and shots-on-goal percentages of the season.
• Lynn is 1-2 against nationally-ranked opponents this year.
• Kiel doubled his scoring output for the season in this game.
• Both sides were even at the X (14-of-28).

UP NEXT: The Fighting Knights will host two nonconference opponents next week, starting with MIT on Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m.