TAMPA, Florida - Despite a program record 25 saves from Carter Groezinger, the Embry-Riddle men's lacrosse team couldn't keep pace with the NCAA II defending national champion Tampa Spartans on Wednesday, dropping a 20-3 decision to open Sunshine State Conference play. The Eagles (4-3, 0-1 SSC) scored the game's first goal, but it was all No. 6 Tampa (5-1, 1-0 SSC) after that.

Marcus Needham found an open Christian Hofer in front of the goal just a few minutes into the game, and Hofer buried his shot past UT goalkeeper Blake Ulmer for an early 1-0 Eagle lead.

ERAU held that advantage for nearly half the opening quarter until the Spartans finally got level at the 8:30 mark. They would add another to take a 2-1 lead a few minutes later as part of a 5-0 scoring run in the period as they would take a 5-1 lead into the second quarter.

The Spartans would score the first two goals of the second before Isaiah Hines scored the first of his two tallies to make it 7-2 with five minutes remaining before halftime.

The hosts scored one final time in the quarter and enjoyed an 8-2 lead at the break.

The Spartans pulled away in the second half, outscoring the visitors 8-1 in the third and then 4-0 in the final quarter to account for the 20-3 final score.

Groezinger played all 60 minutes in net, finishing with 25 saves, breaking the Eagle record set by Lucas Fraser twice last season. UT out-shot the the Eagles 63-30 on the day, while winning the face-off battle 22-5.

Embry-Riddle heads up to Belmont Abbey on Wednesday, March 15. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. in Belmont, North Carolina.