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Men’s Lacrosse Opens Conference Play Defeating Florida Tech

  BOX SCORE SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo men’s lacrosse team edged the Florida Tech Panthers, 18-15, in the Green and Gold’s conference opener on Saturday at University Turf Stadium. The Lions won the offensive battle in the form of shots taken (49-35), earned more saves (15-6), showcasing senior goalkeeper Gunnar Luckoski, and beat the Panthers in the tight faceoff battle (19-16). The trifecta improved the Lions’ record to 1-1, 1-0 in the Sunshine State Conference (SSC). Tyler Eames paced the successful offensive day with four points scoring two goals and two assists followed by Guy Bistrow with a pair of goals and an assist for three points. Justin Williams had a tremendous day scoring a career-high hat-trick off three shots. Devin Sparks and Ryan Marek joined the fun with two goals apiece while Peyton Tyson contributed two points with a goal and an assist. Michael Flores earned a game-high eight ground balls going 10-for-19 at the face. Sharing the responsibilities at the ‘X’, Jordan Williams earned four ground balls going 9-for-16. Luckoski earned the win in the cage with 15 saves in 60 minutes of work.   Records Florida Tech 0-2, 0-2 SSC Saint Leo 1-1, 1-0 SSC How it Happened The high-scoring first quarter featured 12 goals with the Lions finding a 7-5 lead. Up by one at 3-2 (7:59), Saint Leo pulled away to 6-2 off a three-goal run celebrating unassisted goals from Eames, Jack Spera, and Liam Mueller. Florida Tech cut the gap back down to two with a pair of goals followed by one more goal on each side of the field. Unlike the first 15 minutes, the second quarter was a low-scoring 3-2 segment where the Lions added one to their lead. Matt Shand, assisted by Eames, scored the man-up goal followed by unassisted Justin Williams and Marek goals. The Lions heading into the half up by three, 10-7. Little did they know, the three-goal gap would be critical as both teams tallied four goals in the third and fourth quarters. Sparks ultimately netted the go-ahead goal in the 11^th minute of the fourth to bring the game to 16-11. The Panthers finished the last 10 minutes outscoring the Lions 4-2 but it would too little too late against the Green and Gold. Up Next Saint Leo will hit the road for the first time of the 2021 season on Saturday, April 3. The Lions will travel to Winter Park, Fla. to faceoff against the Tars of Rollins College starting at 2 p.m. For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo men’s lacrosse, be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.   *******************  

Men’s Lacrosse Loses to Saint Leo on the Road

Panthers drop to 0-2 after falling to Lions 18-15 on Saturday SAINT LEO, Fla. – Florida Tech men’s lacrosse lost to Saint Leo 18-15 on Saturday afternoon on the road at University Turf Stadium. For the second straight game, the Crimson & Gray had no issue finding offensive production as 10 different players contributed to the goal total. Additionally, Tech outshot the Lions, 49-35, including 28-16 in the second half alone, while also finishing with an edge in shots on goal, 30-24. Bennett Duffy paced the Panthers with four points on two goals and two assists. Chandler Hake tallied a hat trick and Andy Stump recorded two goals and an assist. Luke Palmisano added a goal, two assists and two ground balls while Justin Williams and Zach Rozgonyi finished with a goal and an assist, apiece. Cristian Torres notched a pair of goals in the game in addition to forcing a turnover. On the defensive side, Kyle Sergio collected a game-high five caused turnovers to go along with five ground balls. Josh Vetter totaled four caused turnovers and six ground balls. David Welsh added two caused turnovers and two ground balls. In total, Tech recorded 15 caused turnovers in the game compared to eight for the Lions. Ethan Tosheff (11-24) and Jack Maranto (5-11) combined to go 16-35 on face-offs with six ground balls in the game. The Panthers had two goalies see action in the contest with Vincent Palermo receiving the loss after allowing seven goals and making no saves in the first quarter. Jake Hahn came in relief and finished with six saves while playing the final three quarters of the game. “Our offense has put up enough goals to win both games, but we can’t allow 18 goals and expect to beat anyone,” said head coach Mark Penn. “Our goalie play has been subpar to this point and we are looking for one of those guys to step up and give this team a chance to win. It’s really that simple. “Today we won almost every statistical category but let in too many goals. It’s an area we can and will improve.” Florida Tech won the battle for ground balls, 46-35, and had less turnovers, 16-24, in the matchup. The Panthers also converted on 13-15 clear attempts in the game while the Lions were 17-22 on clears. Saint Leo jumped out to a 6-2 lead with 6:16 to go in the first quarter after scoring three straight goals over a 30-second span, including two quick tallies off face-off wins. The Panthers were able to close the quarter on a 3-1 run, which included goals by Stump and Duffy as well as a man-up tally by Patrick Stewart with 19 seconds left, to trim the margin to two. The teams exchanged goals in the second with the Lions finding the back of the net with 18 seconds to go to take a 10-7 edge into halftime. Nate Deplancke scored off an assist from Stump in the quarter and Duffy tacked on his second goal off a feed from Matt LeCompte. It took just 26 seconds for Reid Chaconas to open the second half scoring with his only goal of the day. Hake then scored just over a minute later off an assist from Palmisano to make it a one-goal game, 10-9, with 13:27 left in the third quarter. The Lions scored four of the final six goals of the third quarter and carried a 14-11 lead into the fourth. Palmisano and Stump provided the two Panther goals, both on unassisted efforts. Saint Leo was able to push its advantage to 16-11 with 11:09 to go in regulation but Torres scored shortly after off an assist from Williams to trim the margin back to four. With 4:29 remaining, Rozgonyi scored on a sneak from behind the net, and then Hake completed his hat trick less than a minute later with a man-up goal, making the score 17-14 with 3:40 remaining. After the Lions increased their 18th goal to push their lead back to four, Williams fired in his lone goal of the game with 1:21 left off an assist from Palmisano. SLU won the ensuing face-off and ran out the remainder of the clock for its first win of the season. “We are struggling to find ourselves right now,” Penn stated. “We’ve played good at times in most phases of the game, but we haven’t put it all together at the same time yet. We have a lot to figure out. “We don’t have time to dwell on this result. We will look at the film and start getting ready for Rollins. I know I have a lot of talent and heart on this team, and we’ve got an amazing group of coaches. We have to find our fight. We will get this turned around.” Florida Tech is back in action on Wednesday, March 31, hosting Rollins College at 4 p.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.   *********************   via SportsLowdown.com  

Panthers Lacrosse Falls at Saint Leo

  Excerpt: For the second straight game, the Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team was on the short end of a high-scoring affair on Saturday, dropping an 18-15 decision to the Saint Leo Lions. After a heartbreaking loss to Lynn in their opener on Wednesday, the Panthers fell to 0-2 with this loss to the Lions. Vincent Palermo got the start in the cage for Florida Tech. He played the first quarter and did not register a save while allowing seven goals. Jake Hahn played the final 45 minutes, making six saves.  Gunnar Luckoski went the distance for SLU making 15 saves and allowing 15 goals. Chandler Hake led the Panthers scoring attack with three goals. There were three Panthers with two goals, including Cristian Torres, Bennett Duffy, and Andy Stump. Single tallies were the order of the day for Patrick Stewart, Nate Deplancke, Reid Chaconas, Luke Palmisano, Justin Williams, and Zach Rozgonyi.   Read the rest HERE