SAVANNAH, GA. – In a rematch of last year's NCAA Quarterfinal contest, the No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Lacrosse Team fell to No. 3 Tampa on a Sunday afternoon in a neutral site contest.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #3 Tampa 13, #8 Lenoir-Rhyne 8
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (2-2), Tampa (3-0)
Location: Savannah, Ga. | Chatham County Memorial Stadium
STATS OF THE GAME
- The back-and-forth game saw neither team lead by more than two goals through the first three quarters.
- However, Tampa would pull away in the fourth quarter with a 5-0 spurt to extend a 7-6 lead to 12-6.
- Will Canata started the scoring for the Bears to put them up 1-0 but Tampa would go back-to-back to reclaim the lead.
- Joe Venazio would even the contest at two but Tampa would go up by a pair.
- At the end of the first half, Canata netted his second goal to pull LR within one at 5-4 at the break.
- Toron Eccleston and Myles Moffat scored in the third quarter but a late penalty kill from Tampa sent the Spartans into the fourth quarter with a narrow 7-6 lead.
- Evan Voss ended Tampa's 5-0 run in the fourth quarter to make it 12-7 and Tommy Aguilar would add a man up goal to make it 12-8 with just over six minutes to play.
- However, Tampa would seal the victory with a 13th goal just under two minutes to play.
- Each team finished with 42 shots and Tampa put 23 on goal compared to 19 from the Bears.
- Tampa grabbed a 28-22 advantage in ground balls and won 15 of 23 face offs in the game.
- Kellen Hoke and Owen Miller had hat tricks for the Spartans and Daniel Fitzpatrick and Luke McAnaney each had two goals and an assist.
- Voss and Canata finished with two goals and an assist for the Bears.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- This featured a coaching matchup between two of the best in Division II. Greg Paradine and J.B. Clarke each own multiple National Coach of the Year honors and have combined for 432 victories.
- This was the seventh all-time meeting between these two programs and the second in Savannah.
- The Bears came in a perfect 5-0 all-time when they were ranked No. 8 in the nation.
- LR completed a week with two opponents from the state of Florida after defeating Florida Tech on Monday.
- This is LR's last neutral site regular season game since the Bears beat No. 1 Limestone 18-16 in Cornelius, N.C. on March 8, 2020.
UP NEXT: The Bears will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Belmont Abbey.
