PB Central alum Sophia Scichilone 3G/2A, SJP alum Carly Niro 2G

via FIT press release/website

BOX SCORE

Panthers’ HEADstrong Throughout in Dominant Fashion Over Holy Family

by Alex Henderson

Melbourne, Fla. – The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse program secured its fourth win of the season in dominant fashion by defeating the Holy Family Tigers 22-4 at Rick Stottler Field on Saturday afternoon. In support of the HEADstrong Foundation The Panthers also held their Game Hair Havoc on Saturday in which the team decorated their hair with ribbons in the colors of the foundation, Lime Green and Blue, to support and raise awareness for families overcome by cancer.  

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #25 Florida Tech 22, Holy Family 4
Records: Florida Tech (4-3, 0-0 SSC) | Holy Family (0-5, 0-0 CACC)
Locations: Rick Stottler Field| Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• Florida Tech opened the contest scoring six unanswered goals which all games unassisted.
• The six Panthers who all scored unassisted goals to start the game were Sophia Scichilone, Caroline Finn, Jennie Boyle, Emma Angelo, Karly Liebendorfer, and Charlotte Hardie.
• With 5:26 to play in the first Maura Kilkenny broke up Tech’s unanswered streak to make it 6-1 before the Panthers hammered on six more unanswered goals in the final five minutes of the first to start the running clock and make it a 12-1 game after 15-minutes.
• Olivia John recorded her first goal of the season in the Panther’s goal streak.
• Scichilone recorded five points in the first quarter alone from three goals and two assists.

SECOND QUARTER:

• The Tigers started the second by scoring 27 seconds in to make it 12-2.
•  Jennie Boyle scored off an assist from Charlotte Hardie with 12:50 to go before Hardie scored off an assist from Boyle with 10:21 to play.
• Rianna Shields tacked on another goal for Holy Family to make it a 14-3 game.
• Having been a part of the Panther’s second six-goal run in the first, Sofie Bender recorded her second goal of the contest with 3:03 to play.
• Neither team would score for the remainder of the second giving Tech a big 15-3 lead entering halftime

THIRD QUARTER:

• Jennie Boyle opened the third by scoring her third goal of the game for the hat trick with 12:12 to play in the third.
• Angelo and Niro would both go on to score their second goal of the game with Bender recording her fourth point of the contest with an assist to Angelo to make it 18-3 with 5:37 to play in the third.
• Shields second goal of the game for Holy Family would be its last making it 18-4 as the quarter expired.

FOURTH QUARTER:

• All four goals in the fourth quarter came from the Panther’s sticks highlighted by Bender recording her first career hat trick and soon following it up with her fourth goal of the game.
• Kyla Vendemia scored as the Panthers were a woman down for her first goal of the season.
• Brianna Ellis also joined in on the scoring action as the defender was able to find the back of the net with 15 seconds to play to secure Tech’s 22-4 victory over Holy Family.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Freshman Sofie Bender set the pace for the Panthers offense scoring seven points from four goals and three assists.
• Scichilone and Boyle each put up five points thanks to both recording three goals and two assists.
• Karly Liebendorfer, Millie Hurt, Phoebe Hurt and Boyle all recorded two ground balls each.
• Boyle led the team with eight draw-control wins.
• M. Hurt also found herself leading the team with three caused turnovers.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Florida Tech wins the ever meeting between the Panthers and the Tigers.
• Tech outshot Holy Family 27-12 with the Panthers going 25-27 on shots on goal and the Tigers shooting nine shots on goal to their 12 total shots.
• Cailey Canessa and Kellen Lucchesi split time in goal combining for five total saves with Canessa making two saves in the first and Lucchesi making three in the second half.
• The Tigers turned the ball over 16 times as the Panthers found themselves giving the ball away 12 times.
• Tech was 13-15 on clear attempts while Holy Family went 7-12 on clears.
• The Crimson and Gray scooped up 13 ground balls compared to HFU’s nine.
• At the draw circle, Tech won 18 of the 29 draw controls.
• The Panthers were 6-7 on free position shots while the Tigers went 1-3.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech will be back in action Tuesday night at Rick Stottler Field for the fourth game of the Panther’s five-game home stand. Tuesday night will see Tech host Westminster University out of Utah on March 12^th, under the lights with the first draw set for 7:00 P.M.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech women’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.