The atmosphere was electric. The crowd was boisterous and large. Black shirts, both from Student Government and the JV lacrosse players, reigned supreme. The timing was ripe for an upset for these young Spartans, as they hosted the No. 4 ranked team in the nation. But by the time the scoreboard got down to zero, the crowd and the players knew it wasn’t meant to be.
The Spartans, who led 3-1 with 10:50 left in the second quarter, fell victim to 14 unanswered goals by Limestone College over the course of the next three quarters en route to a 17-5 loss at Pepin Stadium Friday night. Senior midfielder Greg Griffo led the Spartan attack with two goals and an assist, but the UT offense was no match for the high flying Limestone attack, and its defense had no answers to stop it. Head Coach Rory Whipple was very frank when it came to his team’s performance.
“They (Limestone) are ranked fourth in the country, and this game showed our guys where we’re at, and what we need to do: work harder,” said Whipple.
One big thing that the Spartans need to work on is their communication, especially on the field. While on the sideline, assistant coaches and players were shouting directions to the players on the field, but this began to die down in the second half as Limestone continued to score against the Spartan defense. Freshman Midfielder Riley Piper talked about the breakdown in communication with his teammates, as well as the need to play better as a whole.
“We just need to play better as a team,” said Piper. “We got five goals, and they had 17. That’s not an individual thing; it’s a team thing.”
Penalties are another thing that really hurt the Spartans, especially on defense. The team had multiple penalties in the second and third quarters, which lead to several Limestone goals. It all comes back to working as a unit and communicating better on and off the field. If the team had cut down on their penalties, the game might have had a closer outcome.
“In the third quarter, we had some penalty troubles, where we started giving up man-up goals, then the game sort of got away from us,” said Whipple.
There were also a couple of scoring opportunities that got away from the team, most notably in the first half. They had a couple of shots that hit off of Limestone’s pipes, both of which could have given the Spartans a 5-4 advantage heading into the half instead of a 4-3 deficit.
One thing is for certain: there is going to be a lot of hard work and preparation put into the next few practices before Saturday’s matchup at Saint Leo. This squad learned a lot from Limestone, and they have quite a bit to work on the next few days.
But keep in mind that Limestone is the No. 4 ranked team in the nation that played an exhibition match against Duke, and this Spartan team returns a lot of key players from last year’s inaugural squad that went 11-5 under Whipple, including Griffo, sophomore midfielder MJ Lorenzo, senior defender Eric Dance and senior goalkeeper Joseph Fiorucci. It is also a team looking to make its first ever NCAA Tournament bid in only its second season of existence, which isa definite possibility for this squad despite Friday’s lopsided defeat. That journey will continue Saturday when the Spartans look to rebound when they travel to take on Saint Leo at 7 p.m.
Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan. llanes@spartans.ut.edu.