via press release  

Men’s Lacrosse Drops Heartbreaker to Lynn in Season Opener

Florida Tech’s fourth quarter comeback is spoiled by Lynn’s late game-winner as Panthers fall 17-16 at home Wednesday BOX SCORE MELBOURNE, Fla. – Despite a career-game from sophomore attackman Chandler Hake, Florida Tech was dealt a heartbreaking loss on Wednesday afternoon, falling 17-16 to Lynn in the Crimson & Gray’s season opener at Panther Field. The Panthers came back with three tallies over a 2:28 span to tie the game at 16-16 with 2:46 remaining. The jubilation was quickly spoiled as Lynn regained the lead just over a minute later. Tech won the ensuing face-off and was able to get two good looks in the final minute but both attempts went wide of the goal. LU forced a turnover with under 30 seconds to go and held on for the win. Hake paced the Panthers with seven points on four goals and three assists to go along with a team-high six ground balls. Hake’s total points, assists and ground balls in the game were all career-highs. Reid Chaconas finished with three goals and an assist while Justin Williams registered three goals, four ground balls and a caused turnover. Freshman Zach Rozgonyi added two goals and one assist while Cristian Torres produced a goal and an assist. Josh Vetter forced a turnover and collected five ground balls in the game while Brennan Banks picked up four ground balls and a caused turnover. Freshman Shane Carson started the game in goal for Tech but was pulled in the first quarter for veteran Vincent Palermo, who earned the loss while making eight saves in the game. The Panthers’ face-off duo of Ethan Tosheff (11-28) and Shane Carson (5-8) combined to win 16-36 draws in the game and corral five ground balls while facing one of the better specialists in the nation in Lynn’s Dryden Brous, who went 18-32 at the face-off X. The game featured nine ties with both teams having to overcome multi-goal deficits in the second half. Jalen Stanton, who led all players in the game with six goals, gave Lynn a 1-0 edge just 39 seconds into the contest. Consecutive goals by Chaconas and Hake put Tech ahead 2-1 with 12:26 to go in the first. LU retook the lead following its own 2-0 run, but the Panthers countered with three straight tallies, by Chaconas, Williams and Torres, to grab a 5-3 advantage with 5:40 left in the first. Stanton added three more goals in the waning moments of the opening quarter while Williams added a man-up tally for Tech with 3:22 remaining, and the game was tied 6-6 at the end of the first period. An unsportsmanlike penalty issued to the Fighting Knights’ coaching at the end of the first quarter gave Tech the ball to start the second. The Panthers converted the extra-man opportunity as Rozgonyi scored his first career goal to put Tech up 7-6 with 14:00 to go before halftime. Lynn regained a one-goal lead, but Tech responded with a 3-0 run on goals by Hake, Luke Palmisano and Bennett Duffy to go up 10-8 with 6:06 left. LU tied the game with 5:00 remaining in the second quarter. However, freshman Nate Deplancke scored with just over two minutes to go off an assist from Torres, to provide Tech an 11-10 lead at halftime. Hake’s third goal of the day pushed the Panthers’ lead to 12-10 with 10:38 to go in the third quarter. Lynn then went on the game’s biggest run, netting four consecutive goals to take a 14-12 advantage with 3:48 to play in the third quarter. Hake’s final tally of the game came off an assist from Chaconas and trimmed Tech’s margin to 14-13 early in the fourth quarter. Two straight tallies by the Fighting Knights gave them their largest lead of the contest at 16-13 with 9:53 left in the fourth. Chaconas and Williams both powered their way to a pair of goals in less than a minute and freshmen Luke Jayne and Rozgonyi connected for the game-tying goal to make it 16-16. Lynn regained the lead with 1:32 to go and got a defensive stop in the final seconds to seal their victory. Tech had a disadvantage in shots (45-38), ground balls (40-37) and turnovers (20-13) in the game. Both teams were efficient in clearing the ball, with Lynn going 16-18 on clears and the Panthers converting 15-16 tries. Florida Tech will look to bounce back from the season opening loss when the Panthers face Saint Leo on the road in SSC action Saturday in Saint Leo, Florida. The game is set to begin at 2 p.m. at University Stadium. 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.   *********************   via SportsLowdown.com  

Lynn Topples Tech on Late Goal

  Excerpt: After a postponement of last week’s opener, the Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team took the field for the first time in 377 days on Wednesday, falling 17-16 to the visiting Lynn Fighting Knights. The Panthers (0-1) gave the Fighting Knights all they could handle but a goal by Kaleb Cook with 1:32 to go in regulation proved to be the difference in this one. Jalen Stanton’s six-goal day was a big reason that Cook was in a position to score the game-winner. Colin Casey got the win in goal for Lynn, making six saves while allowing 16 goals. Vincent Palermo took the loss in relief of starter Shane Carson, who was pulled after playing just over 11 minutes. Chandler Hake led the Panthers’ offensive attack with four goals and three assists, for a seven-point day. Hake scored his final goal of the day with 12:06 left in the game and unfortunately was injured and unable to return to see this game through. Reid Chaconas had three goals and an assist in this one and he is now seven goals away from becoming the all-time leader in goals at Florida Tech. Justin Williams also had a hat-trick, while freshman Zach Rozgonyi had two goals in his Panthers debut.   Read the rest HERE