2 Late Goals Carry #17 Rollins Women to the 16-15 SSC Win over #20 FIT; Gastonguay Sets Rollins Career Records, Scichilone with 5G/3A for FIT-Both Recaps
Creekside alum Carsyn Cristel 1G, Sarasota alum Anya Studebaker with 7 saves for Rollins. PB Central alum Sophia Scichilone 5G/3A, SJP alum Carly Niro 3G for FIT.
via the school press releases/websites
Gastonguay Sets All-Time Goals Record in Thrilling 16-15 Win at No. 20 Florida Tech
Caroline Gastonguay is now the all-time leader in program history in goals and points
MELBOURNE, Fla. (April 3, 2024) –Caroline Gastonguay continued to rewrite the record books for the Rollins women’s lacrosse team as she broke the program record for career goals on Wednesday, leading the 17th-ranked Tars to a 16-15 come-from-behind win at No. 20 Florida Tech. The Tars are now 11-3 overall, 3-2 in conference play, while the Panthers drop to 7-6, 1-2 in SSC games.
Caroline Gastonguay led the Tars with four goals, giving her 205 career goals, surpassing Kallie German’s previous record of 201 goals set during her career from 2016-19. Molly Mendes added three goals and two assists, while Lauren Noonan chipped in with three goals. Anya Studebaker made seven saves on 21 shots, while Angelina Vitale (3-0) got the win, making one save on two shots in the final 8:56.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter
- Florida Tech came out firing, jumping out to a 5-0 lead before Noonan finally got the Tars on the board in the final minute of the opening quarter.
Second Quarter
- Mendes and Sydney Nickel each scored in the first 2:31 of the second to cut the deficit to 5-3.
- The two sides then traded goals for the next 10 minutes, with each team netting three goals to make it 8-6.
- Charlotte Gastonguay potted a pair of goals in the final 1:21, including one with just over a second remaining, tying the game at eight at the half.
Third Quarter
- Nickel gave the Tars their first lead less than two minutes into the third, but Florida Tech quickly answered.
- Caroline Gastonguay scored her first of the game with 9:44 left in the third, putting Rollins up 10-9 and tying her with German for the all-time goals record.
- After two Florida Tech goals briefly put the home team back in front, Caroline Gastonguay tied the game and put her name at the top of the record books with her 202nd career goal.
Fourth Quarter
- The Panthers scored the first two goals of the fourth to go up 13-11, but Caroline Gastonguay and Carsyn Christel scored less than 30 seconds apart to tie things up once again at 13.
- Florida Tech briefly regained the lead before Noonan tied it at 14, though the Panthers struck just 39 seconds later to go up 15-14 with seven minutes left.
- The score remained the same until a Caroline Gastonguay woman-up goal with 2:04 left knotted things up at 15.
- The Tars then won the all-important draw control, and after a timeout, they ran the clock down before Mendes found the back of the net with 37 seconds to go.
- Florida Tech got the next draw control, but after a timeout, Vitale came up with a huge save with four seconds left, securing the 16-15 win for the Tars.
UP NEXT:
The Tars will be back at home on Saturday, April 6 to host No. 4 Florida Southern at 11 a.m.
Fans can follow the Tars all season long at RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins Sports on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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No.17 Rollins Edges Past No.20 Florida Tech in Nail-biting Wednesday Matinee
MELBOURNE, Fla. – No.20 Florida Tech women’s lacrosse hosted No.17 Rollins College on Wednesday afternoon for an SSC Contest that was rescheduled from its original 7:00 pm game time due to incoming weather. In what would go down as a back-and-forth battle between the Panthers and Tars, Rollins ultimately came away with the win in the final seconds of the game, defeating Tech in heartbreaking fashion 16-15.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #20 Florida Tech 15, #17 Rollins 16
Record Florida Tech (7-6, 1-2 SSC) | Rollins (3-7, 0-4 SSC)
Locations: Rick Stottler Field | Melbourne, Fla.
FIRST QUARTER:
- Florida Tech started the game out strong, scoring five unanswered goals to take a 5-0 lead just nine minutes into the game.
- Tech’s offense in the first was led by Sophia Scichilone who scored a hat trick within three minutes in just the first quarter.
- Jennie Boyle was a key part of Tech’s first quarter offense picking up a goal and assist in the Panther’s early run.
- With just 49 seconds left in the first, Lauren Noonan scored Rollins’s first goal off a free position shot to make it 5-1 after 15 minutes of play.
SECOND QUARTER:
- The Tars continued to close the gap scoring twice to open the second quarter with goals from Whitney MacMillan and Sydney Nickel as the Panthers trailed 5-3.
- Carly Niro extended Tech’s lead to three, yet again only for Jorie Alf of Rollins to answer back to keep it a two-goal game, 6-4.
- The Panthers and Tar’s continued to trade goals as Kayla Minton scored with a woman down along with Caroline Finn scoring for Tech only for Rollins duo of Molly Mendes and Noonan to score keeping Tech’s lead at two goals, 8-6.
- As the clock winded down in the second, Noonan’s goal would spark the Tars offense as Charlotte Gastonguay scored twice in the final minute and a half of the quarter to tie the game at 8-8 heading into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER:
- Rollins’s comeback rally proved to be successful as Nickel gave the Tars their first lead of the game, 9-8, at 2:45 into the third.
- Niro would stop Rollins’s four unanswered goal stretch scoring at 11:13 to tie the game at 9-9 thanks to an assist from Scichilone.
- Tech would shut down the SSC’s current goals and points leader Caroline Gastonguay until the third as she scored her first point of the game with 9:44 left in the third to give Rollins the lead once again, goals from Finn and Scichilone pushed the Panthers past the Tars 11-10 at the 4:55 mark of the quarter.
- Car. Gastonguay would tie it for Rollins with 1:32 to play in the third to make it an 11-11 score in the back-and-forth battle as the two teams entered the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER:
- Scichilone and Liebendorfer extended Tech’s lead to two goals in the first five minutes of the fourth to put the Panthers ahead 13-11 with 10:56 to play.
- Car. Gastonguay managed to score off a free position goal less than a minute later followed by Carsyn Christel scoring the goal to tie it 13-13 30 seconds later.
- In a complete shootout, Boyle answered back to give them the 14-13 lead at 8:56.
- Noonan of Rollins tied it at 7:39, 14-14.
- Following a yellow card from Rollins, Niro put the Panthers ahead 15-14 on a woman-p goal.
- As Tech took a green card of their own, Car. Gastonguay tied the game at 15-15 on a woman-up goal with 2:04 left to play in the quarter.
- Molly Mendes of Rollins wound up scoring the game-winning goal with 37 seconds left to play in the contest.
- Tech’s final shot was saved with four seconds left to play as the Tars walked away with the narrow 16-15 win.
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
- Scichilone completed the game by recording five goals and three assists for eight points.
- Kayla Minton and Phoebe Hurt both led the team with two ground balls.
- Boyle, Niro, Scichilone, and Ashley Walter all recorded two caused turnovers.
- Emma Angelo was the games leader in draw controls from both sides winning eight Tech’s draws.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- Florida Tech moves to 4-8 all-time against Rollins.
- Tech now drops to 2-3 against the Tars at home.
- With her two assists, Scichilone passes Allie Modica (2015-2017) for the third most in program history.
- The Panthers outshot Rollins 28-24 with Tech shooting 23 shots on goal to the Tars 22 shots on goal.
- Tech turned the ball over 20 times while Rollins recorded five fewer turnovers at 15.
- Rollins was 16-21 on clear attempts with Tech going 17-21 on clears.
- The Tars outplayed Tech on the ground balls as Rollins recorded 20 to the Panthers 13.
- Tech was strong at the draw circle winning 22 of 34 draw controls.
- Rollins was a perfect 3-3 on free position shots while Florida Tech was .500 at 1-2 in free position shots.
UP NEXT: The Panthers will return to action on Saturday, April 6th in Tampa as the Panthers take on the #7 Spartans in Tampa, Florida. The first draw is scheduled for noon.
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay updated on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.