via press release – photo via UT web site   TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 2 University of Tampa Men’s Lacrosse team battled the Pioneers from Tusculum College, coming out victorious in its season opener. INSIDE THE MATCHUP: Final: Tampa 15 , Tusculum 8 Records: Tampa (1-0), Tusculum (0-1) Location: Naimoli Field| Tampa, Fla. All-time Series: Tampa leads the all-time series with Tusculum 2-0. Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo QUOTING COACH RORY WHIPPLE “I really think we were getting the shots early and their goalie played well. We were able to wear them down as game went on. Conor and Andrew Kew played very well. So did A.J. Ferraro. Sam Watts did a great job on the face offs and our whole defense played great. HOW IT HAPPENED: 1st Period

• Returning senior All-American Conor Whipple opened up the scoring with the season’s first goal for the Spartans with the first goal at 13:26 from Chris Vetter.
• Shortly after, Pioneer Ben Boyd tied the game to 1-1 with an assist from Nate Wade.
• The Spartans wasted no time responding with an unassisted goal from A.J. Ferraro.
• Andrew Kew with an assist from Sean Giampietro tacked on another goal to make the game 3-1 at 8:38.

2nd Period

• Sam Watts started the second period winning the face off for the Spartans.
• The Pioneers’ Wade scored their second goal of the game to make the score 3-2 at 8:02.
• Wade struck again with 41 seconds left on the clock with an assist from Keegan Bell to even the score at 3-3.
• With just 33 seconds left, Watts tallied another goal to advance Tampa to 4-3 before half time.

3rd Period

• Watts won the face off again to have Ferraro assisted by Whipple score increasing the score to 5-3.
• N. Wade scored at 13:21 decreasing the deficit by one goal.
• The Pioneers fired back with back to back goals from Dallas Wade and Liam MacDonald, assisted by Charles Mils. Bringing the score to 6-5, Tusculum.
• Giampietro evened the score with and assist from Kew.
• With 1:52 left in the 3rd, Whipple scored his second goal of the game, bringing the Spartans to 7-6 over the Pioneers.
• After a battle for the ball, Kew picked up his second goal of the game and giving the Spartans a two goal lead 8-6.

4th Period

• Tampa started the period off 8-6 over the Pioneers.
• At 11:24, Sophomore Jack Tyrrell scored with an assist from Whipple.
• Two minutes later, Kew scored his third goal of the game with an assist from Whipple.
• Bryan Wright picked up his first goal as a Spartan at 9:27 to make the score 11-6, Tampa.
• 14 seconds later Kew scored for the fourth time with an assist from Ferraro, 12-6.
• N. Wade answered back with man-down to decrease the deficit to 12-7.
• One minute later at 7:09, Luke Robideaux scored, 13-7.
• Kew scored for the fifth time of the game with an assist from Wright making the score 14-7 with 5:46 left in the game.
• Whipple picked up his second goal of the game at 4:47, increasing the gap to 15-7.
• Tusculum scored with 1:47 with a goal from Boyd, assisted by Andrew Kransberger, making the score 15-8.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Kew had five goals and one assist with fourteen shots on goal.
• Watts went 17 for 20 on face-off wins
• Whipple scored three goals with three assists with eight shots on goal.
• Wright had one goal and one assist.
• Arnold had a save percentage of .636 with 14 saves.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The men’s lacrosse team keeps their season-opening tradition of winning for the sixth time with today’s win over Tusculum.
• The Spartans remain undefeated against the Pioneers since 2015.

UP NEXT: Tampa returns to action on Saturday as it hosts Queens (N.C.) University in their second game of the season. Live stats will be available through TampaStats.com. TAMPA SPARTANS MOBILE APP: A free app is also available for free download through Apple and Google Play stores. Please search for Tampa Spartans Front Row.