WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic men's lacrosse team lost to the University of Tampa by a score of 22-8 on Saturday. The Sailfish (4-3) have now lost their third straight game since opening up conference play.
In the first quarter, the Spartans scored a goal within the first 40 seconds of play, and they continued to try and put the heat on the 'Fish. But the starting goalie, Brendan Pedisich, made two great saves after the Tampa goal, which led to a Sailfish score. The goal was scored by Sarver Adams with nearly 13 minutes remaining in the period. The Spartans responded back with three goals in a row to extend the lead to 4-1 until Caleb Southard was able to respond with a goal of his own to cut the lead to two. The Sailfish had some opportunities to score off some Tampa turnovers and missed shots, but just couldn't find the inside of the net, and the Spartans pushed their lead to 7-2 by the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Keegan Southard forced a Tampa turnover and picked up the ground ball, which led to a PBA score by Brad Wharton to make it 7-3. At a little bit under the nine-minute mark, the 'Fish found themselves down 9-3 after a couple Spartan goals. Tampa won the faceoff after their last score, but Jake Bacilek caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball, and then Cooper Porter scored a goal to cut it to five. The Spartans responded within 10 seconds of the PBA goal with a goal of their own, closed out the half on a four-to-nothing run, and were up 13-4 on the 'Fish.
Tampa continued their run to begin the second half, going up 18-4, making it their biggest lead of the game. PBA did manage to score a couple more times in the third. The first goal didn't come until the two-minute mark, and Porter was the one to thank for the goal after a missed shot wide by Adams just seconds before. After a penalty on Ty Wright, the Spartans tried to use the extra-man opportunity to their advantage but missed a shot, and the 'Fish were off to the other end after Ben Lightsey picked up the ground ball. With about 30 seconds left, Hunter Hopman scored the final goal of the period to make the game 18-6 in Tampa's favor.
Tampa would not let up, as they scored their 19th goal of the game within a minute and a half into the fourth quarter. The 'Fish still had some fight in them, but it took them until about the 8-minute mark to score another goal. Henry Sloyan was the creator of the play with the assist, and Adams was the one to thank for the score. Unfortunately, the 'Fish were no match for Tampa, as they got their lead back to 14 at 21-7. Sloyan did score one final goal for the 'Fish on a man-up opportunity, but Tampa responded right back in the final seconds to make it 22-8 as the final score of the game.
The Spartans took 49 shots to PBAs 25 on the game, and the 'Fish did force 20 turnovers but just couldn't execute on the offensive end. Adams and Porter led the team in goals with two each, and Porter also had two ground balls to go with his stat sheet. Bacilek and Wright were the leaders in ground balls with three each, and Bacilek caused three turnovers on the defensive end. Pedisich played about 34 minutes in the game until he was replaced in goal by Ben Lightsey. Pedisich had eight saves on 15 goal attempts in his time in the net, and Lightsey had four saves on seven goal attempts.
The Sailfish will host the Lions from Saint Leo University next Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. and will look to bounce back to get their first conference win of the season.
