Tampa, Fla.----The 14th-ranked University of Tampa Spartans raced out to a 7-0 lead Wednesday night in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse South Regional, then answered a Wingate rally with a late spurt to prevail 13-6 and advance to the regional semifinals. The Spartans improve to 15-5 overall, while the Bulldogs see their seven-game winning streak snapped, ending the season at 13-4 overall.

KEY STATS

- Tampa out-shot Wingate 43-32 with a 22-21 advantage in shots on goal
- The Spartans won 18 of the 22 face-offs on the night
- UT turned it over 19 times; WU had 16 turnovers
- Wingate was one-for-six on extra-man opportunities; Tampa was zero-for-six
- The Spartans picked up 38 ground balls; the Bulldogs collected 24

KEY BULLDOGS

- Joe Cooper led the Bulldogs with a pair of goals
- Alex Llerandi and Bobby Padden each contributed a goal and an assist
- Conor Gronbach and Josh Ferentinos added a goal apiece
- Alex Cordero had nine saves and a team-high four ground balls

NOTES

- Wingate was making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years and third all-time
- The Bulldogs fall to 0-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests
- WU falls to 0-3 against the Spartans; all three matches at Tampa
- First loss to a Sunshine State Conference team this year after starting the season 3-0 vs. SSC teams
- First time the 'Dogs have allowed double-digit goals since an 11-10 OT loss at #13 Mount Olive (March 23)
- 2019 SAC Player of the Year Llerandi finishes his WU career with 118 career goals (4^th in Wingate history)
- Padden had at least one goal and one assist in 12 of 16 games this season
- Third straight multi-goal effort from Cooper and ninth of the year
- Senior class posted a 47-19 overall record, three SAC Tourney titles and a regular season championship

FIRST PERIOD

- Tampa outscored Wingate 5-0 in the opening frame
- Five different players scored, with a Jake Mosher goal at the 1:09 mark give UT a 5-0 advantage

SECOND PERIOD

- Goals from Matt Vetter and Bryan Wright gave the Spartans a 7-0 lead with six minutes left in the half
- Cooper got the Bulldogs on the board with 1:53 remaining in the period

THIRD PERIOD

- Ross Dickerson's goal four minutes in put Tama on top 9-1
- The 'Dogs scored the next five goals to get within three, closing the frame on a 3-0 run
- Gronbach started it with a goal off a Llerandi assist at the 5:28 mark
- Padden scored with 1:48 remaining in the frame to make it 9-3
- Llerandi found the back of the net a minute later to get the 'Dogs within five heading to the fourth

FOURTH PERIOD

- Cooper's goal 90 seconds in made it 9-5
- Ferentinos scored with 11:17 to go to get Wingate within three
- Tampa responded by scoring the next four goals to stretch the lead back to seven
- Vetter scored the first two, while an Andrew Kew goal at the 6:32 mark made it 12-6