D2 SPARTANS CELEBRATE GASPARILLA WITH A PAIR OF WINS OVER FLORIDA
TAMPA, Florida. - The Tampa Spartans Men’s Hockey Team scored 10 goals in their Gasparilla themed win against 11th ranked Florida to take the first game of the series
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida 2, Tampa 10
Records: Tampa (20-1-1), Florida (7-6-1)
Location: Clearwater Ice Arena | Clearwater, FL
HOW IT HAPPENED GAME 1:
1st Period
● -After about half a period of hard-fought hockey, Tampa’s Tyler Kelly scored the opening goal giving the Spartans the lead.
● -Spartans Junior Matthew Needleman scored another goal with assists from Michael Pettijohn and Angelo Picariello, which made the score 2-0
● -Another Tampa goal came from Senior Ryan Murray to increase their lead to 3
● -UT finished off the period with another goal from Sophomore Jake Karant for his 10th of the year.
2nd Period
- -On one of their first powerplay opportunities for the Spartans, Alternate Captain Stephen Buck capitalized to make the score 5-0.
- -Back to even strength Tampa scored another a minute later by Senior Gus Aldridge
- -The Gators scored very shortly after on a powerplay to get their first points of the game
- -Later in the period, the Spartans put another one in the net to give them a 6-goal lead with the shot coming off the stick of Sophomore Jack Manware.
- -Florida quickly answered with another powerplay goal to make the game 7-2 at the end of the period.
3rd Period
- -This period started off the same as the other two with a Tampa goal from Senior Evan Hoffberg.
- -Tyler Kelly of the Spartans scored his second of the night 3 minutes later giving them a 7-goal lead.
- -Tampa Junior Frank Catalina finished off the scoring for the game with assists from Tyler Kelly and Ryan Murray to end the game with a score of 10-2.
GAME 2: UT vs. FLORIDA
TAMPA, Florida. – The University of Tampa’s Men’s Hockey Team scored 9 goals in their Sunday win against the Gators to take both of the games in the series.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida 3, Tampa 9
Records: Tampa (21-1-1), Florida (7-7-1)
Location: Clearwater Ice Arena | Clearwater, FL
HOW IT HAPPENED:
1st Period
● -Unlike last game, the Gators started off the scoring to take their first lead of the weekend.
● -Tampa fired back 2 minutes later with a goal from Frank Catalina giving him 14 goals on the year and tying the game
● -The Spartans kept the scoring going with a goal from Ryan Andrews which made the score 2-1 UT.
● -UT did not stop there as they added another goal to their lead from Evan Hoffberg and assists from Stephen Buck and Grant Parrish to end the period at 3-1
2nd Period
- -Evan Hoffberg scored again giving him his second of the night and the Spartans a 3-goal lead.
- -Tampa sophomore Connor Berry continued to pour on goals as he scored his first of the night with assists coming from Ryan Andrews and Nico Evangelous.
- -Connor Berry got a breakaway and scored on a nice move for his second goal of the night to end the period with a score of 6-1.
3rd Period
● -With another goal to start off the period had three separate Spartans with a multi-goal night as Frank Catalina buried one on a powerplay goal
● -The Gators started to claw their way back with a shorthand goal making the score 7-2
● -Connor Berry got his third of the night to get his first career hat trick to give the Spartans an even bigger lead.
● -Florida answered back as they popped another in the final 4 minutes of the game.
● -To end all the scoring Stephen Buck got one for Tampa making the final score 9-3.
UP NEXT:
● -The Spartans take on UCF in Orlando on Friday and in Tampa for Senior Night on Saturday
● -The Spartans will be providing Fan Busses from their campus to the game on Saturday
● -Stay tuned for postseason updates and information about the 2021-2022 season.
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