ST. LOUIS  – The No. 7 Maryville men's lacrosse team was tied with No. 1 Tampa in the fourth quarter but the Spartans used three late goals to prevail 9-6 in the clash of nationally-ranked squads. Chris Anderson and Jake Grebe both tallied two goals apiece to lead the Saints efforts. The Saints outshot the Spartans 36-30, were +5 in turnovers and held Tampa to its lowest scoring game of the year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Spartans built a 2-0 lead before Anderson fired in his first of the day. Tampa took a 3-1 margin into the second but Grebe shot a rocket into the upper corner to pull the Saints to within one. Tampa tallied twice to snare a 5-2 edge at halftime.
 
The Saints surged coming out of the break. Clayton Cerett scored 85 seconds into the third, and Anderson followed 48 seconds later to cut the gap to one. Tampa tallied to make it 6-4 heading into the final quarter. The Saints started with a rush as they forged a tie. Grebe cashed in a feed from Cerett, and Ben Mickett collected another ball from Cerett and knotted the game 6-6 with 11:08 remaining.
 
Tampa finally retook the lead with just over nine minutes to play. The Saints had a shot to tie but the attempt was saved by UT goalie Connor Theriault. On their next possession, the Saints had three shots to tie the game but one hit the post and the other was saved. The Spartans converted a chance to build a cushion at 8-6. The Saints won the ensuing faceoff and had a pair of attempts misfire. The Spartans tacked on a goal with 1:02 left to seal the victory and remain unbeaten on the season. Dylan Radke came up with nine saves in goal for the Saints, while Theriault slowed the Maryville attack with 14 stops on the day.

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals: Chris Anderson and Jake Grebe - 2
Assists: Clayton Cerett - 2
Points: Clayton Cerett and Jake Grebe - 3
Ground Balls: Dylan Radke - 5
Caused Turnovers: Cody Cornier - 3
Faceoff Wins: Shea Raeburn - 4
Saves: Dylan Radke - 9
 
RECORDS
No. 7 Maryville: 4-2
No. 1 Tampa: 8-0
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
A two-game Florida swing looms with a contest at #15 Saint Leo up first Wednesday, March 12, in a 6 p.m. CT start.  
  Read Full Article