DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle lacrosse team fought its toughest opponent on a rain-drenched ERAU Lacrosse Field on Wednesday, and despite a strong second half, ultimately fell to No. 3 Tampa, 18-14. The Eagles (6-4, 2-1 SSC) battled the entire 60 minutes with the third-ranked Spartans (11-1, 4-0 SSC) and nearly came up with the win.
 
ERAU was paced on the day by a trio of hat tricks from Joe Anderson, Pete Abbes and Isaiah Hines, while Christian Hofer registered six points on two goals and four assists. Marcus Needham nabbed a pair of goals as well to go along with two assists, and Coleman Jacobs netted a goal and two assists for three points.
 
Reid Kerr once again stood on his head to collect an impressive 15 saves to nine goals allowed before yielding to Carter Groezinger who himself made nine stops to nine goals allowed. The pair of Eagle netminders withstood one of the nation's toughest offenses, while the Eagle defense kept things at bay for much of the contest.
 
Tampa won all but the third period, starting with a 7-4 advantage after the first. Joe Anderson began his hat trick to open up the game's scoring at the 13:31 mark, but the Spartans reeled off three in a row before Hines netted one at 9:03 to make it 3-2. From there, Tampa added two more in quick succession, while Hofer added his first of the day with 3:53 left. The two sides traded goals down the stretch for an eventful first period. Hofer added his second, an unassisted goal at 2:27, but UT scored the final of the frame to make it 7-5.
 
Only three total goals came in the second period, with Hines netting the first at 13:02. With the weather worsening, UT capitalized halfway through and with under 30 ticks left in the half to take a 9-5 lead into the break.
 
But the Eagles surged in the third period, winning the frame 5-3. Anderson nabbed his second then completed the hat trick within a minute of each other to pull within two at 9-7. After UT notched two more to go up four, Abbes tallied two quick goals back-to-back, then Jacobs tied things up at 10-10 with 5:26 to play in the third. Tampa quickly connected on two more down the stretch, however, to go up 12-10 heading into the fourth. 
 
Needham tied things up once again with two goals within 40 seconds, the second of which was in a man-up situation. Hofer and Jacobs collected assists on Needham's goals and things sat even at 12-12. 
 
The Spartans maintained control in the waining minutes, though. Both Hines (8:06) and Abbes (4:32) kept the Eagles alive and in things, eventually down just one to the nation's number three team. But UT fired off three goals within two minutes down the stretch to run away with a closer-than-the-scoreboard 18-14 win.
 
After nearly knocking off No. 3, the Eagles will hit the road this weekend with a trip to RV Florida Tech at 11 a.m. Saturday.