Jupiter alum Jackson Bashaw 1G/1CTO for Tampa. St Edward’s alum Danny Richmond 1G/1A/1GB for FIT

via the school press releases/websites

BOX SCORE

Tampa Soars Over Florida Tech to Finish Regular Season Perfect in SSC

MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 3 Tampa finishes the regular season with a perfect conference record as they defeat Florida Tech. With the win, the Spartans are SSC Regular Season Champions.

The Spartans would waste no time to begin the game, with Nick Papa opening the scoring just two minutes in off a pass from freshman Matthew Vara. Less than one minute later, Mitchell Pfeiffer found the back of the net to build the Tampa lead. Jackson Bashaw netted one soon after off a pass from Papa, continuing the scoring run. With just under eight minutes left in the first quarter, Canyon Birch netted his conference-leading 51^st goal to extend Tampa’s lead. Birch went on to net his second of the game before Alex Poma won the next face-off to set up Andrew Milani‘s first of the game. The Panthers would get on the board with just over twenty seconds left in the quarter, sending the Spartans into the second quarter with a five-goal lead.  

The second quarter began with each team playing well defensively. With just over six minutes left before the break, Birch recorded his 10th hat trick of the season. Seconds later, Poma won the face-off and ran it down the field to net his 10^th goal on the season. Milani recorded his 47^th goal on the season, building the Spartans’ lead to eight. Behind a late goal by Owen Miller, Tampa headed into the half with a nine-goal lead.

The second half began with Miller netting his second of the game less than one minute into the quarter. Florida Tech got one back a couple of minutes later before Milani netted back-to-back goals finishing off his hat trick. Ronan Sanchez netted his ninth of the season with just over five and a half minutes left in the third quarter. Pfeiffer found Grant Green in front of the net, extending the Tampa lead to 12. The Panthers netted one with just over two minutes left in the quarter, cutting into the Spartans’ lead.

The final 15 minutes began with Florida Tech netting back-to-back goals, cutting the Tampa lead to nine. Sanchez netted his second of the game, keeping the Tampa offense rolling. Zack Friend found the back of the net for the ninth time this season before Tommy Ortega netted one of his own continuing Tampa’s dominance. The Spartans continued to find the back of the net, earning their fourteenth win of the season.

Stat of the Game – Tampa is Sunshine State Conference Regular Season Champions.

TAMPA POST-GAME NOTES 

• The Spartans have won 13 straight.
• Luca Mercaldo started in net, recording nine saves.
• Milani recorded his eighth hat trick of the season.
• 15 Spartans contributed on the score sheet tonight.
• The Spartans dominated the face-off circle, winning 24 of 32.
• Charlie Villa appeared in net for Tampa in the 4th quarter.
• Tampa hit 20 goals for the fourth time this season.

UP NEXT – Tampa enters the postseason, receiving a bye week this weekend as the number one seed heading into the SSC Tournament.

*****

No.3 Spartans Cruise Past Panthers

by Christina Hardman

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Tech men’s lacrosse closes out the regular season against No. 3 Tampa. The Panthers earned the three seed heading into the conference tournament.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: RV Florida Tech 7, #3 Tampa 21
Records: RV Florida Tech (5-8, 4-3 SSC) | #3 Tampa (15-1, 7-0)
Locations: Rick Stottler Field | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• Tampa wasted no time scoring three goals in the first four minutes.
• The Spartans would tack on three more before Tech got their first goal from Jakob Terpak off a feed from Zach Rozgonyi with 22 seconds remaining.

SECOND QUARTER:

• The second quarter saw a defensive stalemate as neither team scored in the first eight minutes.
• Tampa posted four unanswered goals over the final 6:19 to extend their lead 10-1 at the break.

THIRD QUARTER:

• Tampa opened the second half scoring less then one minute into the quarter.
• Cam Mckee netted back-to-back goals over a two-minute span, with the second goal assisted by Colin Olson.
• The Spartans recorded four more goals, before McKee completed the hat trick off a feed from Danny Richmond.

FOURTH QUARTER:

• The Panthers recorded back-to-back goals to bring it back to a single-digit game with 13:01 to go. Goals were scored by Danny Richmond and Ethan Hodges.
• Tampa ensued on a 6-1 run to end the game, 21-7. The Panthers lone goal in the run was scored by Gavin Stecher, assisted by Colin Olson.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Cam McKee recorded a hat trick.
• Danny Richmond posted two points on one goal and one assist.
• Gavin Stecher, Jakob Terpak, and Ethan Hodges each tallied one goal.
• Colin Olson recorded two assists.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Tampa ended with more shots (44-23), shots on goal (32-17) and ground balls (32-17).
• Spartans won 24-32 on faceoffs compared to 8-32 for Tech.
• Tech recorded less turnovers (14-11).
• Panthers were 14-19 on clears while Tampa finished 16-18.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech moves to 1-19 all-time against Tampa
• With his assist in the first quarter, Zach Rozgonyi tied the programs all-time career assist record with 56 career assists.
• Ricky Fedorchak moved to fourth all-time on the programs single season caused turnover list with 42.
• Colin Olson’s two assists are a career-high.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech will open post-season play at Rick Stottler Field on Saturday, April 20^th. The Panthers will host six-seeded Lynn in the SSC Quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m.

For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.