BOX SCORE   via Tampa press release  

Spartans Glide Past Panthers 11-6

  MELBOURNE, Fla. –The No. 6 University of Tampa women’s lacrosse team defeated the Florida Tech Panthers by a final score of 11-6. INSIDE THE MATCHUP: Final: No. 6 Tampa Spartans 11, Florida Tech Panthers 6 Records: Tampa (9-2, SSC 2-0), Florida Tech (5-6, SSC 0-2) Location: Florida Tech Panther Stadium | Melbourne, Fla. All-time Series: This is the first time in program history that the Spartans have defeated the Panthers in women’s lacrosse. FIT leads the all-time series over UT 5-1. Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo.   HOW IT HAPPENED:

   1st Half

• IWLCA Division II Offensive National Player of the Week, Claire Swanson scored the first goal of the contest off the assist by Rachel Crawford.
• With 24:44 left in the half, Caroline Forester netted her first of the contest off the pass by Kristyn Staley.
• Less than thirty seconds later Lauren McNeill sunk a goal, also from Staley.
• The Spartans fourth goal was then scored by Maggie Gladden off the assist by McNeill.
• Finally, FIT scored back-to-back goals to end UT’s 4-0 scoring run.
• The Spartans last goal of the first half was scored by Kayla Kosubinsky with 9:57 left on the clock.
• Heading into halftime, the Spartans led the Panthers 7-4.

  2nd Half

• To start the second half, Florida Tech was the first team on the board.
• Claire Swanson then netted her second and final goal of the evening with 24:33 remaining.
• Following Swanson‘s goal, Gladdennotched another with the assist by Kosubinsky.
• Rachel Crawford then netted one for UT off the pass by LIzzie Pierpont.
• Tech scored once more before Gladden scored the final goal of the game with :25 seconds left in the contest. Gladden was assisted by Swanson.
• The No. 6 University of Tampa Spartans defeated the Florida Tech Panthers by a final score of 11-6.

  INSIDE THE STATS:

• Maggie Gladden led all Spartans offensively with three goals.
• Following Gladden‘s efforts was that of Swanson who had two goals and one assist.
• Alexa Sucdillo, Danielle Waters, and Allie Popelar all stated two caused turnovers for UT.
• Waters also had a whopping four ground balls.
• Bridget Sutter played the entire 60 for the Spartans. She faced 21 shots and recorded 15 saves on the night.

  UP NEXT:  The Spartans will travel to Winter Park, Florida to play the No. 2 Rollins College Tars on Wednesday, April 10^th. The game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Barker Family Stadium. TAMPA SPARTANS MOBILE APP:
 A free app is also available for free download through Apple and Google Play stores. Please search for Tampa Spartans Front Row.   *****   via SportsLowdown.com   Excerpt:

The sixth-ranked Tampa Spartans were able to beat a very determined Florida Tech squad on Wednesday, taking down the Panthers 11-6 in a Sunshine State Conference women’s lacrosse contest at Panther Stadium.

“I’m not disappointed in the score at all,” said Panthers coach McKenzie Rafferty. “They are the sixth-ranked team in the country and I think that we battled really hard and I am extremely proud of the way these girls played.”

Sam Schiano supplied most of the Panthers offense, scoring four goals. Alexis Townsend and Leah Dunn had the other tallies. Dunn got an assist as well, feeding Townsend on her first-half goal.

Florida Tech (5-6, 0-2 SSC) had 21 of their 23 shots go on cage. Each team turned the ball over 18 times, and Tampa held a slim 22-19 advantage on ground balls. Draw controls were 10-9 in favor of the Spartans.

Florida Tech goalie Chloe Zador played well in this one, coming up with seven saves. She made a couple of key saves in the second half, keeping the Panthers in the game. Zador’s counterpart Bridget Sutter deserves a lot of credit, as she came away with 15 saves for the Spartans. She was definitely the difference in the game.

Read the rest HERE

  *****   via FIT press release  

Florida Tech Bested by No. 6 Tampa at Home

  MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team showed a lot of grit in its matchup with No. 6 Tampa on Wednesday night as the Panthers fell behind by four early on but continued to fight the rest of the way, eventually falling 11-6 at Panther Stadium. Sam Schiano paced the Panthers with four goals, six draw controls and three caused turnovers. Leah Dunn added a goal and an assist while Alexis Townsend scored one goal. Olivia Going collected four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Madison Ulvenes and Aleah Fjelstad each recorded two ground balls. Chloe Zador finished with seven saves in the loss. The Spartans got off to a fast start with four unanswered goals to grab a 4-0 edge less than eight minutes into the first half. Schiano powered through the UT defense for consecutive unassisted scores to make it a 4-2 game with 18:07 left in the half. Tampa responded with goals by Caroline Forester and Carly Voccaro to push its lead to 6-2 just past the 12:00 mark of the frame. Less than a minute later, Schiano found the back of the net again to complete her hat trick and cut the margin in half, 6-3. The Spartans increased their lead back to four with 9:57 remaining in the first half. Dunn then connected with Townsend for a score right on the doorstep, and the Panthers went into halftime trailing 7-4. It looked as though Tech would get back into the game early in the second half as Schiano tallied her fourth goal to make it a two-score game, 7-5, with 26:30 to go. UT had other plans as the Spartans scored three unanswered goals to push the game to 10-5 with 15:20 remaining. Dunn notched her first goal of the game on a nice dodge down the wing to make the score 10-6 with 5:13 to go. One final goal by Tampa with 25 seconds left sealed the deal for the Spartans as they went on to earn their first ever win over the Panthers. Tampa finished with a slight edge in shots (26-23), ground balls (22-19) and draw controls (10-9). The Panthers went 0-3 extra-man opportunities while both teams had 18 turnovers in the game. Florida Tech is back in action this Saturday, Apr. 6, as the Panthers travel to Winter Park for an SSC matchup with No. 2 Rollins. That contest is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Barker Family Stadium. For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech women’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.