East Lake alum Samantha Reich 4G/1A for ERAU, SJP alum Carly Niro with 3G, PB Central alum Sophia Scichilone with 2G for FIT

via the school press releases/websites

BOX SCORE

Gavin’s Record-Setting Night Leads No. 8 Eagles Past No. 19 Panthers

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The eighth-ranked Embry-Riddle women’s lacrosse team staved off a late rally by 19th-ranked Florida Tech (6-5, 0-1 SSC) on the Panthers’ home field on Wednesday, grinding out a 16-13 win to notch their second Sunshine State Conference victory of the season. The Eagles are now 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the SSC.
 
Headlining the Eagles’ individual performances was Caitlin Gavin whose eight caused turnovers tied the program’s single-game record and eclipsed the two-year-old single-season season mark. The freshman, who also totaled three goals and four ground balls in the game, now sits as the Eagles’ single-season caused turnover leader with 37.
 
Callison Foreman turned in her second five-goal performance in a row, while Samantha Reich added four and Eliana Enners matched Gavin’s three goals.
 
Ella-Rae Cox had another impressive game in the cage for the Blue and Gold, finishing with 11 saves.
 
The Eagles got the first goal of the game just 37 seconds in, but the Panthers evened the score 90 seconds later and the teams traded goals leading to a 2-2 tie at the 9:18 mark. The last three scores of the first quarter went to the Eagles, fueled by a Reich hat trick. Cox finished the quarter with six saves to help the Eagles to a 5-2 lead after the first 15 minutes.
 
After Florida Tech scored the first goal of the second, the Eagles got goals from Enners and Foreman to go up by four (7-3). The Panthers managed another score with 5:28 left in the half, but Enners answered less than two minutes later to reclaim the four-goal (8-4) advantage at the half.
 
Two quick scores by the home team cut the Eagle lead to two (8-6) at the start of the third. The Eagles responded with three goals in a row to build the league back up to five (11-6), but the Panthers outscored the Eagles 3-1 in the final 6:31 of the period and ended a nine-goal third quarter trailing 12-9.
 
It took just 15 seconds for Gavin to win the draw and score the first goal of the fourth quarter, and Foreman’s goal at the 13:52 mark gave Embry-Riddle a five-goal (14-9) cushion once again. The Panthers did not give up and with 3:07 left to play, a four-goal rally had cut the lead to two (15-13). Over the next 90 seconds, the Panthers tried to added their tally and pulled their goalie in order to bolster their attack. The move did not pay off, however, as Foreman’s final goal with 29 seconds left sealed the win for the Eagles.
 
Embry-Riddle will be back in action on Saturday, traveling to Boca Raton for another conference game against No. 12 Lynn. That game is scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. start.

*****

No.8 Embry-Riddle Outlasts No.19 Panthers in Wednesday Night Thriller

by Alex Henderson

MELBOURNE, Fla. – No.19 Florida Tech women’s lacrosse opened conference play on Wednesday night at home against No.8 Embry-Riddle. Despite a great effort by the Panthers which saw two single-game records be broken, the back-and-forth contest from both sides, saw the Eagles ultimately come away with the 16-13 over Tech.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #19 Florida Tech 13, #8 Embry-Riddle
Record Florida Tech (6-5, 0-1 SSC) | Embry-Riddle (11-1, 2-0 SSC)
Locations: Rick Stottler Field| Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• 36 seconds into the contest Eliana Enners scored first to give the Eagles the early lead before Sofie Bender responded with a goal for Tech to tie the game at 13:05.
• Back-to-back goals from Samantha Reich of ERAU and Kayla Minton, assisted by Caroline Finn, saw both teams still tied at the 9:18 mark.
• Embry-Riddle would close out the first quarter by scoring three more goals, one from Callison Foreman and two from Reich to record a hat trick in the first as the Eagles would take a 5-2 lead following the opening 15 minutes of the game.

SECOND QUARTER:

• Following the two-minute break, the Panthers came out in the second scoring first as Bender found the back of the net 3:20 into the quarter to narrow Tech’s deficit to 5-3.
• Enners and Foreman would score two unanswered goals as ERAU jumped out to a five-goal lead with 7:49 to play in the half.
• Minton’s second goal of the game came with just over five minutes left in the quarter.
• With 3:08 to play, Enners of Embry-Riddle scored her third goal of the game to put the Eagles ahead 8-4.
• Neither side would score for the remainder of the half as ERAU would head into halftime ahead by four goals over Tech.

THIRD QUARTER:

• Having time to regroup, the Crimson and Gray started the second half strong as Minton scored her hat trick goal, less than two minutes into the quarter off an assist from Jennie Boyle.
• Carly Niro would cut the Eagles lead to just two goals less than a minute later as she recorded Tech’s sixth goal of the game to make it an 8-6 game.
• Three straight goals by Embry-Riddle would put the Panthers down by their biggest deficit of the night, five goals while leading 11-6.
• The Panthers did not give up as Phoebe Hurt would score for Tech off an assist from Boyle with 6:31 left in the third.
• Niro found the back of the net for the second time in the game to bring Tech back to within three goals.
• Tech and Embry-Riddle would each trade a goal in the final minutes of the third as Tech kept it a three-goal game while trailing 12-9 entering the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER:

• Goals by Gavin and Foreman to start the fourth put the Panthers behind again by five goals as ERAU gained a five-goal, 14-9 lead.
• Following a green card from Enners, the Panthers seized the opportunity as Sophia Scichilone scored the woman-up goal, assisted by Bender.
• In the opposite position with a woman down three minutes later, that didn’t stop Niro from scoring her third goal of the game as her hat trick goal came thanks to a free position shot to make it a 14-11 contest.
• Gavin’s third goal of the game would put ERAU ahead 15-11.
• With under five minutes remaining in the fourth, goals from Scichilone and Boyle would put Tech within two goals from tying the game with 3:07 to play.
• In the Final minute of the contest and down by two, would try to get an extra attacker on the field with an empty net.
• Foreman would close the game, scoring off a free-position empty-net goal with 29 seconds left and eventually giving Embry-Riddle the 16-13 win over Tech.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Kayla Minton finished the game with four points from four goals.
• Sofie Bender, Jennie Boyle, and Carly Niro each managed to finish with three points.
• Emma Angelo dominated at the circle, winning 13 draw controls which helped her surpass 100 career draw control wins
• Millie Hurt led the team with a total of three ground balls.
• Brianna Ellis, M.Hurt, and Ashley Walter each were responsible for two caused turnovers.
• Cailey Canessa was exceptional in goal as the junior recorded a total of 10 saves in the game to Ella-Rae Cox’s 11 saves.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Florida Tech is now 1-4 in the All-Time series against Embry-Riddle.
• With 24 draw control wins, the Panthers set a new single-game record for most team draw controls in a game. The previous record of 23 draw controls was tied six times with the most recent game coming this season against Saint Anselm on March 14^th.
• Winning 13 draw controls, Emma Angelo set a new program record for most individual draw control wins in a game. The previous record of 12 draw control wins in a game was tied three times prior with the most recent coming from Lizzy Christ who recorded 12 draw control wins on February 26^th, 2023, at Mars Hill.
• Tonight, Florida Tech outshot the Eagles 32-20. The Eagles recorded 26 shots on goal to the Panthers 24 shots on goal.
• The Panthers struggled with possession, turning the ball over 21 times compared to Embry-Riddles 11 turnovers.
• ERAU was 22-24 on clear attempts while the Panthers went a perfect 14-14 on clears.
• Tech only managed to pick up 15 ground balls compared to the Eagle’s 19 ground ball wins.
• Florida Tech was fierce at draw control against the Eagles winning 24 to that of the Eagle’s eight draw control wins.
• Tech was 1-1 on free position shots while Embry-Riddle shot .500 at 2-4 on free position shots.

UP NEXT: The Panthers will return to action on Saturday, March 30^th as they take on Palm Beach Atlantic in another SSC matchup with first draw scheduled for 1:00 pm. Tech will also be holding it’s Morgan’s Message Dedication Game in honor of Morgan Rodgers, a former Duke University Women’s Lacrosse student-athlete who tragically passed away in July 2019 after battling mental health struggles. The Game is played in honor of her and the Morgan’s Message Foundation which was created by her family and former teammates with the mission to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.

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.