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Women’s Lacrosse Cruises Past PBA for First Win

Florida Tech rode a dominant second half to a 19-13 road win over the Sailfish on Wednesday   BOX SCORE WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Florida Tech women’s lacrosse earned its first win of the season behind a dominant second half performance as they defeated Palm Beach Atlantic 19-13 on the road Wednesday evening in West Palm Beach. Alexis Townsend paced the Panthers with five goals on six shots. Mollie Kaplan filled up the stat sheet with four goals, an assist, six draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls. Rachel Johnson finished with four goals, two ground balls and one caused turnover. Caroline MacLeod added two goals and a game-high eight draw controls while Kailee O’Brien scored two goals and collected three ground balls. Millie Hurt had a goal and six draw controls and Kyla Vendemia finished with one goal. Ashley Walter guided the Panther defense with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Olivia Going, Kylie Morris and Maggie Reed each recorded one caused turnover and one ground ball. With her one caused turnover, Going now has 100 for her career and becomes just the third Panther in program history to hit the mark. Emily Harris picked up her first career win in goal while making seven saves for the Panthers. MacLeod got the Panthers on the board less than a minute into the game with an unassisted effort. After PBA tied the game at 1-1, Townsend powered by her defender to score her first of the game and give Tech a 2-1 edge with 26:30 to go in the first half. The Sailfish tallied three straight goals to grab a 4-2 advantage with 15:37 remaining. The Panthers responded with goals by Townsend and Kaplan to tie the game at 4-4 with 12:30 left in the half. Kaplan’s tally was the 100th of her career, she becomes the fifth Panther to surpass the century mark for career goals. PBA retook the lead 6-4 by scoring two goals in a matter of 11 seconds with 11:02 remaining in the first half. The Panthers would answer with four unanswered tallies to grab an 8-6 lead heading into halftime. MacLeod opened the run with a free position goal at the 9:18 mark. Townsend scored her third goal on a free position and then her fourth two minutes later to put Tech up by one with 6:20 to go. Johnson buried her first goal of the game on a free position with 2:01 left to hand the Panthers a two-goal lead at the break. Florida Tech added to their lead right off the opening draw of the second half as Kaplan corralled the draw control and found Johnson for her second goal of the game. O’Brien pushed the Panthers’ advantage to 10-6 with 25:46 remaining. After PBA ended Tech’s 6-0 run, O’Brien and Johnson struck again with unassisted tallies and increased the Crimson & Gray’s lead to 12-7 with 20:44 to go. The Sailfish would score back-to-back goals to trim the Panthers’ lead to 12-9 with 15:52 left. However, Tech responded with a 5-0 run, beginning with a Townsend’s 5th goal of the game with 14:56 remaining. Consecutive free position goals by Hurt and Kaplan pushed the lead to 15-9. Vendemia and Johnson then tallied goals one minute apart to increase the Panthers’ advantage to eight goals with 9:54 to go. Kaplan completed her hat trick on a free position attempt with 7:21 remaining to put Tech up 18-10 and then sealed the win with her fourth goal of the game on another free position with one second to go. With the win, Florida Tech improves to 4-0 all-time against Palm Beach Atlantic. The Panthers finished with an advantage in shots (33-29), shots on goal (30-20) and draw controls (20-12). Tech converted on 8-11 free position attempts and were successful on 7-12 clears in the game. The Sailfish scored on 5-6 free position tries but struggled on clears, going 9-17 against the Panthers. Next up for Florida Tech is a home game against Florida Southern this Saturday, April 17, at Panther Stadium. The game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. 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.   ****************  

Women’s Lacrosse Stunned by Florida Tech

  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic women’s lacrosse team hosted Florida Tech under the lights at the Rinker Athletic Campus on Wednesday. PBA (1-4, 1-4 SSC) held an early lead in the first half, but Florida Tech (1-6, 1-4 SSC) flipped the switch midway through the period which led to a 19-13 Panther win. FT held a clear advantage in draw controls, snagging 20 compared to PBA’s 12. A dominant draw control coupled with 11 free position shots was enough to lead to a comfortable win for the Panthers. Kiki Cinotti carried the Sailfish attack with seven goals and an assist. Kate Leblanc added a pair of goals, a pair of assists and tied for a team-high three ground balls. Anna Laskeris, Grace Bartlinski, Lindsey Heffler and Arianna Soffos all found the back of the net in the game. Soffos’ goal was the first of her Sailfish career. Cinotti and Laskeris got the Sailfish on the board early in the contest. PBA held a 4-2 lead through the first five minutes of action. Minutes later, Laskeris forced a turnover, scooped up a ground ball and assisted on a Cinotti goal to give the ‘Fish a 6-4 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first half. Florida Tech answered with a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 lead into the halftime break. FT picked up where it left off in the second half, opening the period with two more goals to take a 10-6 lead. A goal from Cinotti stopped the run, but the Panthers answered with two more goals to lead 12-7. The Sailfish answered with goals from Heffler and Cinotti to keep PBA within striking distance with 15 minutes left; however, the Panthers extended their lead with a 6-1 run. The Sailfish tried to rally with a three-goal spurt down the stretch, but it was too little, too late for the ‘Fish as the visitors cruised to a 19-3 lead. Abigal Nehring got the start in goal for the ‘Fish. She finished with three saves before being replaced by Sarah Vernarelli. Vernarelli tallied eight saves and tied for a team-high three ground balls in her 38 minutes of play. PBA is scheduled to face Rollins on the road on Saturday. The game in Winter Park, Fla. is scheduled for 4 p.m.   ******************   SportLowdown.com  

Kaplan Hits Century Mark as Panthers Get First Win

  Excerpt: Graduate Student Mollie Kaplan scored four goals including her 100th career tally, helping the Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team to a 19-13 win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday. It is the first win of the season for the Panthers who broke a six-game losing streak. Kaplan also registered the only assist for Florida Tech in the game, giving her five points on a night when she went into the Panthers record book. The Panthers (1-6, 1-4 SSC were led by Graduate Student Alexis Townsend, who found the back of the net five times. Sophomore Rachel Johnson had four goals, to go along with Kaplan’s four. Juniors Kailee O’Brien and Caroline MacLeod scored twice each, while freshmen Mille Hurt and Kyla Vendemia each scored one.   Read the rest HERE