BOX SCORE   via FIT press release – photo by Louis Marinacci  

Panthers Ride Epic Comeback for Upset Victory over No. 20 Rollins

  Ryan Land sets SSC record for faceoffs as Tech rallies for largest comeback in program history in 17-16 win over Tars MELBOURNE, Fla. – Propelled by a dominant performance at the faceoff x by Ryan Land, the Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team rallied from a 8-0 deficit to post its largest comeback in program history and hand No. 20 Rollins a 17-16 defeat in a thrilling affair at Panther Field. Land set a school and SSC record with 28 faceoff wins in 37 tries as the Panthers won their SSC opener and improve to 5-1 on the season. The 28 wins surpass the team’s single-game record of 27 set a few days ago against Nichols College, and are eighth most in a game by a single player in NCAA Division II history. Land was just three faceoff wins away from tying the NCAA record of 31. Reid Chaconas led Tech with four goals and an assist. Brett Pohlmeyer, Logan Sweeney and Justin Williams each recorded two goals and an assist, with Williams and Pohlmeyer also collecting six and four ground balls in the game, respectively. Tommy Bowser added a goal and two assists and Brad Schillinger scored two goals. Addison Abramson tallied a goal and an assist to go along with 11 ground balls and two caused turnovers. Land led all players in the game, and tied a school record, with 14 ground balls. After a rough start, Dan Flock came up big again in goal for the Panthers, finishing with 15 saves including eight in the fourth quarter alone. The Tars jumped out to a fast start and a big lead early. After Joey Cinque scored to give RC a 1-0 lead just 49 seconds into the game, the Tars tallied seven more unanswered goals to grab an 8-0 advantage with 9:35 to go in the second quarter. Tech finally got onto the board with 8:51 to go in the second when Tommy Bowser found Brad Schillinger on a cut around the net for his ninth goal of the season. RC answered with a man-up tally by Cinque to push its lead to 9-1 with 7:27 left in the first half. However, with their backs against the wall, the Panthers fought back. Chaconas got it going with an outside rip that punctured the top right corner to make it a seven-goal game. He then scored again off an assist from running mate, Sweeney, to make the score 9-3 with 4:29 remaining in the second. Three more unanswered goals by Bryce Johnson, Pohlmeyer, and Tyler Oblong cut the Panthers’ deficit to 9-6. The Tars added one more to their total with just 25 seconds to go in the half but Sweeney responded with his own unassisted tally with five seconds left, and Tech went into halftime trailing 10-7. After a slow start to the second half, Schillinger got the scoring going with an unassisted effort. Not too long later, Pohlmeyer scooped up the rebound off a saved shot and found the back of the net to trim the margin to 10-9 with 8:42 left in the third. Rollins received consecutive goals from Jackson Colling and Ryan Dunn to push its lead back to three with 2:55 to go in the third. But Williams then hit the twine 15 seconds later to make it a two-goal game again. Abramson made sure he got into the mix with a rocket from the top of the restraining box. Williams followed it up with a man-up, goal off an assist from Pohlmeyer, to tie the contest for the first time, at 12-12, heading into the fourth period. Land won the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter, scooped up the ground ball and then lit up the top left corner for his first goal of the season. The score gave Florida Tech its first lead of the game, 13-12, with 14:42 left. Tallies by Bowser, off an assist by Brennan Banks, and Chaconas, off a feed from Abramson, increased Tech’s advantage to 15-12 with less than 10 minutes to go. Rollins responded with three of the next four goals and cut the Panthers’ lead to 16-15 with 5:42 remaining. One more goal by Chaconas, his fourth of the game and 16th of the season, made it 17-15 with 3:50 to go. The Tars again trimmed it to a one-goal game on a score by Kyler Portera with 1:34 left. However, Flock and the defense shut it down from there with several stops in the final minute, and the Panthers held on for their first league victory of the season. Florida Tech finished the game with an advantage in ground balls, 66-44, while the Tars ended with more shots, 53-51. The 66 ground balls tie a single-game record for Tech. The Panthers are back in action Wednesday, Mar. 27, with a key SSC matchup with Tampa on the road. Start time between Tech and the Spartans is set for 8 p.m. at the Naimoli Family Athletic Complex in Tampa, Florida. 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.   *****   SportsLowdown.Com Recap  

Panthers Stun Rollins With Comeback Win

  Excerpt:

The Florida Tech Panthers (5-1, 1-0 SSC) overcame a slow start on Saturday, scoring 10 second half goals en route to a 17-16 come-from-behind victory over 20th-ranked Rollins (6-2, 0-1) in the Sunshine State Conference opener for both teams. It was the biggest comeback for the Panthers in program history.

Reid Chaconas was the Panthers leading scorer with four goals and an assist. Logan Sweeney, Justin Williams, and Brett Pohlmeyer had two goals each, to go along with an assist for all three.

Ryan Land was a beast in at the faceoff dot for the Panthers, setting a Sunshine State Conference single-game record with 28 faceoff wins. He was three faceoff wins from setting the NCAA record, and he now sits in eighth place in the Division II record books. He also tied a school record, scooping up 14 ground balls.

“He’s the player of the game, and he set a school record for faceoff wins,” said Panthers head coach Mark Penn. “Without him out there today, this could have gotten ugly. Hats off to him, he came back from that ACL tear last year and he’s waited his turn. He was behind Travis Wunder and then he was behind Lance Pavlina and now here he is winning the game for us.”

Read the rest HERE

  *****   via Rollins press release  

No. 20 Tars Fall in Shooting Match to Florida Tech, 17-16

  Rollins Opens Sunshine State Conference Play with Tough Loss to Panthers MELBOURNE, Fla. (March 23, 2019) – For men’s lacrosse within the Sunshine State Conference, it’s anybody’s game, and conference match-ups prove to be cutthroat.  The story was no different for the No. 20 Rollins men’s lacrosse team Saturday morning as they faced off against Florida Tech in their SSC opener.  After leading by as much as eight in the second quarter, the Tars watched the Panthers whittle away at the deficit to stage one of the biggest comebacks in league history, ultimately defeating the Tars by a final score of 17-16 at the F.W. Olin Sports Complex. The win marks just the second for the Tars this season, dropping them to a record of 6-2 and 0-1 in SSC action.  The Panthers win their third straight, and advance to a record of 5-1 and 1-0 in SSC play. The Tars, who checked in at No. 20 on the USILA/Warrior and New Balance DII Poll and No. 16 on the NIKE/US Lacrosse DII Top 20 this week, saw four goals out of senior Tommy Keane, followed by a hat trick from both Joey Cinque and Jackson Colling.  Senior Greg Taicher led the team in assists with two, and added two goals to match Keane in overall points with four.  Ryan Dunn added two goals of his own, followed by Grant Longand Kyle Portera with one apiece.  Long added an assist for a two point performance, followed by Blake Buell and Brandon Carlin with one assist each to round out the Tars’ scoring efforts.  Dunn, Wyatt Todd, and Evan Schimek led the team with five ground balls apiece, while Luke Sawyer earned a team high four caused turnovers.  A normally dominant faceoff squad was stymied by the Panthers, only winning 9-of-37 attempts at the faceoff-x.  In goal, freshman Will Eckerd played a full 60 minutes, facing 51 shots and 32 shots on goal.  Eckert earned 15 saves while allowing 17 goals. Florida Tech, who received votes on both the USILA DII Poll and US Lacrosse Top 20, were led by Reid Chaconas, who packed in five points with four goals and an assist.  Brad Schillinger, Logan Sweeney, Brett Pohlmeyer, and Justin Williams scored two goals each, followed by Ryan Land, Bryce Johnson, Addison Abramson, Tommy Bowser, and Tyler Oblong with one goal each.  Bowser led the team in assist with two, while Sweeney, Pohlmeyer, Williams, Abramson, Brennan Banks, and Jake Pierson contributed one assist apiece.  Land led the team in ground balls with 14 as he won 28-of-37 faceoff attempts.  Abramson earned 11 ground balls of his own, and notched a team high two caused turnovers, which was matched by Matt Weinstein. In goal for the Panthers, Daniel Flock faced 52 shots and 30 shots on goal from the Tars in 58:32 minutes.  Flock allowed 15 goals while earning 15 saves in his time on the field.  Matt Young saw 1:28 in goal in the second quarter, allowing a goal on his only shot faced. How it Happened: Rollins held the Panthers off of the board in the first quarter, and ran out to an 8-0 lead with 9:35 on the clock in the second period.  The Panthers halted the Tars’ scoring streak with a goal by Schillinger off of an assist by Bowser with 8:51 to play, but a man-up goal by Cinque off of an assist by Taicher gave the Tars a 9-1 lead with 7:27 left in the quarter.  Florida Tech then went on their first scoring streak of the game, netting five straight to pull to within three of the Tars, 9-6, with 1:15 to go in the period, and late goals by both teams closed out the first half with Rollins holding onto a 10-7 lead.  Both teams scored two consecutive goals each to open the third quarter, giving the Tars a 12-9 lead with 2:55 to play in the period, but three late goals by FIT in under two minutes knotted the score at 12-12 entering into the final quarter.  The Panthers’ scoring streak continued into the start of the fourth quarter, and after five minutes Rollins found themselves trailing by three, 15-12, with 9:50 on the clock.  Cinque netted a goal off of an assist by Blake Buell at the 9:15 mark, and an unassisted goal by Keane with 7:29 to play pulled the Tars to within one, 15-14, but FIT pulled back out by two with six and a half minutes left. Colling found the back of the net with 5:42 to play, but an unassisted goal by Chaconas padded the Panther’s lead by two once again, 17-15, with 3:50 to go.  Portera earned an unassisted goal at the 1:34 mark to pull Rollins back to within one, 17-16, and despite their best efforts the Tars were unable to place the ball in cage as the seconds wound down, closing out the contest losing by one. The Series: Rollins vs Florida Tech (4-5)  

Date	Opponent		Score	Site	Notes
3/23/2019	At Florida Tech*	L	17-16	Melbourne, Fla.
3/31/2018	No. 18 FLORIDA TECH*	L	14-12	Winter Park, Fla.
4/22/2017	At Florida Tech*	L	12-8	Melbourne, Fla.
4/16/2016	FLORIDA TECH*	W	11-9	Winter Park, Fla.
4/24/2015	Vs. Florida Tech	L	12-6	Tampa, Fla.	SSC Tournament Semifinals
3/28/2015	At Florida Tech*	W	9-6	Melbourne, Fla.
3/31/2014	FLORIDA TECH*	W	14-7	Winter Park, Fla.
2/16/2013	At Florida Tech+	L	9-5	Melbourne, Fla.
2/25/2012	FLORIDA TECH+	W	15-7	Winter Park, Fla.

  THE BREAKDOWN: Overall: 4-5 *Sunshine State Conference: 3-4 +Deep South Conference: 1-1 Home: 3-1 Away: 1-3 Neutral: 0-1 Notes:

• The Tars are now 4-5 against the Panthers in the all-time series, and have lost the last three match-ups.  When playing against FIT on their home field, the Tars are 1-3 overall.
• Rollins is now 4-2 this season when playing on the road.
• Rollins checked in at No. 20 on the USILA/Warrior and New Balance Division II Poll, as well as No. 16 on the NIKE/US Lacrosse DII Top 20 this week.
• Florida Tech received votes on both the USILA and US Lacrosse polls this week.
• Evan Schimek ranks fifth in DII in caused turnovers per game (2.57), and leads the SSC
• FIT’s Dan Flock ranks ninth in DII for goals against average (8.47), and leads the conference.  Flock also ranks seventh in DII, and leads the SSC in save percentage (.619), and ranks eighth in DII and first in the SSC in saves per game (14.00).
• The Sunshine State Conference has seven of their eight league teams earning recognition on the NIKE/US Lacrosse DII Top 20.  Three teams are ranked in the Top 20 (Rollins No. 16, Lynn No. 17, Tampa, No. 20), while four received votes (Florida Southern, Florida Tech, Palm Beach Atlantic, Saint Leo).
• Six of the SSC’s eight teams are receiving recognition on the USILA/Warrior and New Balance DII Poll.  Saint Leo checked in at No. 16, followed by Rollins at No. 20, while Florida Southern, Tampa, Lynn, and Florida Tech all received votes this week.

  NEXT: The Tars return to action on Saturday, March 30, when they travel to Boca Raton to take on Lynn University in SSC play.  Game time against the Fighting Knights is set for 1:00 pm.  Fans who are unable to attend the contest can follow all of the action live on the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSportsLive.com, as well as with live stats on TarsStats.com. For the latest news, updates, and information on the Rollins men’s lacrosse team, fans can visit RollinsSports.com.  Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.