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#14 Panthers Earn Thrilling Victory over #20 Mavericks (plus SportsLowdown Recap)
via FIT press release by Daniel Supraner
Justin Williams sets all-time assists record as Florida Tech picks up its third ranked win of the season, 16-15, over Colorado Mesa
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #14 Florida Tech 16, #20 Colorado Mesa 15
Records: Florida Tech (5-3), Colorado Mesa (5-3)
Location: Panther Field | Melbourne, Fla.
FIRST QUARTER:
- CMU got on the board early with two quick goals in the first 3:27 of the game.
- Andrew Walenty scored the opening goal for the Panthers off an assist from Bennett Duffy to make the score 2-1 with 11:09 left in the first quarter.
- After the Mavericks pushed their lead to 3-1 with a man-up goal, Justin Williams tallied his first of the day to bring the Panthers within one at the 4:54 mark of the quarter.
- CMU added one more goal with 3:47 left and led 4-2 at the end of the first.
SECOND QUARTER:
- Panthers opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals, with Williams scoring a man-up goal off an assist from Zach Rozgonyi and Chandler Hake finding the net off a feed from Duffy, to knot the game at 4-4 with 9:28 to go.
- Mavericks went up 5-4 on a man-up try a few minutes later but Tech answered with another two-goal run, on goals by Collin Stewart and Jakob Terpak, to corral its first lead of the game 6-5 with 3:39 remaining in the first half.
- CMU evened the game at 6-6 with just over three minutes to go in the second. However, Williams notched his first half hat-trick with 2:23 left, off Duffy’s third assist of the half, to hand the Panthers a 7-6 lead at the break.
THIRD QUARTER:
- CMU scored early in the third quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
- Hake gave the Panthers back the lead with his second goal of the game off an assist from Austin Engeler with 12:38 remaining in the quarter.
- Mavericks ensued on a 2-0 run to regain their lead 9-8 with 7:22 left.
- Panthers answered with consecutive tallies by Stewart and Rozgonyi, both off assists from Williams, to put Tech up 10-9 with 4:29 remaining.
- CMU fought back with two goals over a 13-second span to go ahead 11-10 with 2:53 left in the third.
- With time running down in the quarter, Terpak broke up a CMU clear attempt and Sam Balch collected the ground ball and moved it up to Duffy, who threaded an assist to Rozgonyi for a goal with 0.2 seconds remaining to tie the score at 11-11.
FOURTH QUARTER:
- Tech carried the momentum gained by the late third quarter tally and opened the fourth scoring five of the first six goals of the quarter to go up 16-12 with 7:52 left. Rozgonyi scored twice and Griffin Bowie, Patrick Stewart and Brennan Banks recorded one goal during the run.
- CMU clawed its way back with three consecutive goals to bring the margin to 16-15 with 3:46 to go.
- John Hulsman came up with a clutch save with 1:11 left, one of his 18 stops for the game, and the Panthers were able to run out the rest of the clock on the way to their fifth win of the season.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
- Zach Rozgonyi tied for a game-high with 6 points on 4 goals and 2 assists.
- Justin Williams also recorded a game-high 6 points with 3 goals and 3 assists. He now holds the program record with 46 career assists.
- Bennett Duffy dished out a career-high 5 assists.
- Chandler Hake and Collin Stewart each scored 2 goals and picked up 2 ground balls.
- Jakob Terpak tallied 1 goal and 1 assist.
- Brennan Banks, Patrick Stewart, Andrew Walenty and Griffin Bowie all recorded 1 goal in the game.
- Sam Balch collected 3 caused turnovers and 3 ground balls.
- Gavin Wessell picked up 3 caused turnovers and 1 ground ball.
- Austin Engeler had 4 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
- Six Panthers finished with 1 caused turnover.
- John Hulsman posted a season-high 18 saves while facing 52 total shots to improve his record in goal to 5-3.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
- CMU finished with an edge in shots (52-35) and shots on goal (33-28).
- Mesa dominated on ground balls (65-35) and at the battle at the X, winning 26-35 faceoffs.
- Panthers ended with less turnovers (15-18) and had more caused turnovers (14-10).
- Both teams were efficient on clear attempts with the Panthers going 21-25 while CMU was successful on 13-15 tries.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Panthers are now 3-2 against ranked opponents this season.
- Tech evens the series with Mesa to 1-1.
- Justin Williams’ assist to Zach Rozgonyi with 4:29 left in the third quarter gave him the program’s all-time lead in career assists with 46, surpassing the previous mark of 45 held by Nick Wynne (2014-17).
- With his 6 points today, Williams now has 118 points for his career, moving him into a tie for fourth place with Wynne in the program’s record book. Williams also becomes the sixth player in program history to score 70 career goals.
- Bennett Duffy’s 5 assists are tied for second most in a game in program history with assistant coach Zach Wynne, who also finished with 5 against Rollins on March 28, 2015.
- John Hulsman’s 18 saves are tied for fifth most in the game in program history, tying the amount recorded by Daniel Flock in three separate occasions during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
- With his 3 caused turnovers against CMU, Sam Balch now has 26 for the year, good for fourth most in a season in program history.
UP NEXT: Florida Tech is back in action this Saturday, March 26 hosting Saint Leo in the Panthers’ SSC opener. The game is set to begin at 11 a.m. at Panther Field.
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.
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SportsLowdown.com
Panthers Win Top-20 Shootout with CMU
by Donny Rieber, Jr.
Excerpt:
In a game that had a bit of everything, the No 14 Florida Tech Panthers (5-3) outlasted No. 20 Colorado Mesa (5-3) 16-15 on Wednesday, in a regional men’s lacrosse classic at the Backyard in Melbourne.
Not only did the Panthers get the win, but midfielder Justin Williams made history with his third assist of the day, which was the 46th of his career. It came with 4:29 left in the third quarter and set a new program record, eclipsing Nick Wynn’s previous record of 45 which Williams tied earlier in this contest.
The Panthers (5-3) scored their last goal of the game with 7:52 left in the contest. It was the fourth of the day for Zach Rozgonyi and gave the Panthers a 16-12 lead with 7:52 left. The Mavericks scored three in a row from there, closing the gap to 16-15, but Panthers goalie John Hulsman made a save with 1:11 left in the game and the Panthers were able to possess from there, killing the clock and winning the game.
Read the rest HERE