CLEARWATER, Fla. - The University of Dubuque men's lacrosse played their first game in Florida on Tuesday afternoon and dominated the Emmanuel (Mass.) College Saints 20-11 behind 10 points from senior Sam Todd. 

The Spartans scored four goals in the first five minutes of the opening quarter to lead 4-0 right out of the gate. The Saints answered with the next two goals to cut the Spartans' lead to 4-2 at the end of one period. The Saints scored the opening three goals of the second quarter, and after five straight goals, they had their first lead of the game at 5-4.

The Saints lead would last only 27 seconds as Todd scored one of his three goals to even the score at 5-5. The Spartans would score four more unanswered to extend their lead to 9-5. After a Saints goal in the final minute of the first half, the Spartans had 2.5 seconds left and Hayden Polakowski was able to launch the ball from the opposite goal that ultimately hit the Saints goalie's stick and had enough backspin on it to cross the goal line for the goal at the buzzer. The Spartans took a 10-6 lead at the half.

In the third quarter, the Spartans would extend their lead 17-10 and led by as many as eight goals (16-8) midway through the third. The Spartans added on three more goals in the fourth quarter to get 20 goals in the game. This was the first time since April 17, 2023 against Cornell College that there was 20 goals scored in a single game. 

Todd ended with three goals and seven assists for a total of 10 points in the game. Todd was three shy of tying the record for most points in a single game. Aidan Culligan had a team-high five goals, while Aiden Ennett, Nolan Dimitri, and Giovanni Silva all had multi-goal games.

The Spartans were 22-34 on faceoffs with John Lewis winning 12 and Kaden Gunnare winning nine. Caleb Cuff won his first game in his career with a 13-save performance. 

The Spartans improve to 1-2 on the year.

Up Next
The Spartans will play their second and final game on Thursday against Wentworth Institute of Technolgy at 2:00 p.m. from Clearwater, Florida.