TAMPA, Fla. --- The Tusculum men's lacrosse team battled fourth-ranked Tampa to the end as the Spartans defeated the visiting Pioneers 14-8 Sunday afternoon at Pepin Stadium.

Tampa (2-0) received three-goal performances by Conor Whipple, Chris Vetter and Zak Goldbach in the victory.

Tusculum rookies Nate Wade and Chris Ryan accounted for a pair of goals each for the visitors.

With the score tied 1-1, the Spartans tallied four straight goals, including a pair by Whipple to lead 5-1. Nate Wade stopped the run with a goal to open the second quarter. The two teams traded goals, including a scoring tally by Ryan with 10 minutes left before halftime to trim the UT lead to 6-3.

Goldback and Vetter tallied back-to-back goals for the Spartans, while Ryan notched his second goal of the quarter as TC trailed 8-4.

Tampa scored seven consecutive goals including five in the third period while shutting out the Pioneers in the frame to take a 14-4 lead.

Tusculum (0-2) erupted for four goals, including two by Wade and one each from Steven Raimondi and Kellen Asmundson to cut the deficit to 14-8 with 4:34 left in regulation. All this as the Tusculum defense shut out the defending NCAA Division II national semifinalist in the final 16:50 of the game.

Tusculum goaltender Kevin Haggerty recorded eight saves as the TC defense caused seven turnovers, including two by All-South Atlantic Conference defenseman Mitch Chapman.

Tusculum outshot the Tampa by a 37-31 margin, including 20-10 in the second half. The Spartans finished with 27 ground balls, while the Pioneers accounted for 20, including three each from Thomas Loudon and Alexander Kleinberg.

Tampa edged Tusculum in the faceoff dot by a 13-12 margin.

Tusculum returns to action Saturday, February 21 when the Pioneers open league play against defending SAC co-champion Lenoir-Rhyne at 3 p.m. on the Hickory, North Carolina campus.

- TC -