BOX SCORE   via FSC press release

Benedetto Sisters Lead Moccasins to Tenth-Straight Victory Against Florida Tech

LAKELAND, FL – Florida Southern College women’s lacrosse defeated Florida Tech for the tenth-straight time with a 16-4 victory on Saturday afternoon at Moccasin Field. The Benedetto sisters teamed up for six goals and two assists as the Mocs (7-1, 1-0 SSC) handed the Panthers (5-4, 0-1 SSC) their fourth loss on the season. Aubriana Benedetto and Maliah Benedetto led Florida Southern’s offense with three goals each. Brenna Smith and Riley Bannatyne added on another two each, while six more Mocs found the back of the net. HOW IT HAPPENED •  For the second time this week Florida Southern jumped out to a 3-0 as Smith took feeds from A. Benedetto and Grace Glineckifor the Mocs first two goals of the game. Sarah Grady put the home team up 3-0 just 38 seconds later. Three minutes later the Panthers would find the scoreboard on an unassisted goal from Sam Schiano. A. Benedetto would begin a 4-0 run for the Mocs as she took a pass from Marina Jozokos and put it past the FIT goalie. Less than a minute later, the same two teamed up for another goal, this time Jozokos took the feed from A. Benedetto. The two teams would trade goals over the final 12 minutes of the first half before the Mocs went to the break with a 9-3 lead. • Florida Southern came out of the break wasting no time as M. Benedetto scored on an assist from Sam Keesey just 15 seconds into the half. In what seemed like déjà vu the two repeated the same move 16 seconds later as M. Benedetto took a pass from Keesey for the 11th Moccasin goal on the afternoon. Bannatyne and Catherine DeKorte would add on two more goals before M. Benedetto would record her third goal of the game for a 14-3 lead. With just under nine minutes remaining in the game, FIT’s Lexi Woviotis would score the only goal in the second half for the Panthers. Needing just one more goal to tie her sisters game total, A. Benedetto put a free position shot past the Panthers Chloe Zador for her third goal on the day. Abby Joselyn put her name on the scoreboard at the 2:09 mark for the final Mocs goal and a 16-4 victory. INSIDE THE NUMBERS • Florida Southern extended its all-time record against Florida Tech to 10-0. • The Mocs defense held the opposition to nearly a season-low as they let up only four goals. Patricia Werker made seven saves. Florida Southern won 15 of 21 draw controls. • Florida Southern picked up 37 ground balls to 21 by Florida Tech. The Mocs converted 14 successful clears on 21 attempts. • The Mocs fired off 41 shots, 28 of which were on goal. 11 of the Panthers 14 shots were on goal. Florida Southern caused 16 turnovers as Florida Tech had 23 turnovers on the afternoon. UP NEXT • Florida Southern closes out a three-game homestand with a game against Belmont Abbey (March 21). The Mocs will take on Tampa (March 27) before ending March at home against Mount Olive (March 30).   *****   via FIT press release

No. 24 Panthers Fall to No. 3 Mocs on the Road

LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 24 Florida Tech faltered in its SSC opener at No. 3 Florida Southern on Saturday as the Panthers were dealt a 16-4 loss at the Barnett Athletic Complex. Sam Schiano led Tech with two goals, four caused turnovers, three ground balls and four draw controls. Kailee O’Brien tallied a goal, three ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Lexi Woviotis found the back of the net once and grabbed two draws. Olivia Going finished with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Brittney Embreeand Alexis Townsend picked two ground balls each. Chloe Zador made a career-high 12 saves in the loss while also collecting three ground balls and a caused turnover. The Moccasins jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 23:04 left in the first half. Schiano cut the deficit to two on an unassisted effort at the 20:08 mark. FSC then tallied four goals over a 1:52 span to push its lead to 7-1 with 15:23 to go in the frame. A 2-1 run by the Panthers, on goals by O’Brien and Schiano, trimmed the margin to 8-3. However, a last second goal by the Mocs’ Abby Hammond, made it a six-goal game at halftime. Five consecutive goals to start the second half increased FSC’s advantage to 14-3 with 11:14 remaining. Woviotis’ free position goal made it 14-4 with 8:54 remaining. The Mocs tacked on two more goals over the final minutes to seal the deal and put a halt to the Panthers’ three-game winning streak. FSC, on the other hand, extended its unbeaten streak against the Panthers to nine games. Florida Southern finished with an edge in shots (41-14), draw controls (15-6), and ground balls (37-21). Tech went 11-of-21 on clears while the Mocs converted 14-of-21 attempts. Florida Tech is back in action on Tuesday, Mar. 19, hosting Alabama-Huntsville in its final non-conference game. The matchup is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Panther 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.