via the school’s press releases, plus SportsLowdown.com

BOX SCORE

No. 14 Panthers Ride Offensive Explosion to First SSC Win

Zach Rozgonyi records seven points as Florida Tech runs past Saint Leo 19-13 in Saturday’s SSC opener

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #14 Florida Tech 19, Saint Leo 13 
Records: Florida Tech (6-3), Saint Leo (5-3)
Location: Panther Field | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• Lions took a 1-0 lead just 72 seconds into the contest, but the Panthers scored consecutive goals to grab a 2-1 lead with 8:47 left. Zach Rozgonyi having a hand in both tallies, scoring unassisted to tie the score at 1-1 before finding Bennett Duffy for his first goal of the game.
• SLU responded with three quick scores over a 1:29 span to jump ahead 4-2, but Tech put together another 2-0 run on goals by Justin Williams, from Griffin Bowie, and Sam Sidari to tie the game at 4-4 with 2:53 to go.
• Lions added one more goal before the end of the quarter and the Panthers trailed 5-4 heading to the second. 

SECOND QUARTER:

• After the Lions increased their lead to 6-4 with 11:16 left in the second quarter, the Panthers ensued on a five-goal surge to corral a 9-6 advantage with 2:27 remaining.
• Five different players scored during the 5-0 run. Williams, Bowie and Sidari got the spree started with unassisted tallies. 
• A full-field effort from Brennan Banks gave Tech an 8-6 edge with 5:59 to go. Banks forced a turnover on the defensive end and then found Matt Hill on the clear, who moved it back to Banks on a cut for his second goal of the season. 
• Later in the quarter, Banks found Rozgonyi for a man-down goal to put the Panthers up 9-6. 
• Lions scored a man-up goal with 56 seconds left and the Panthers took a 9-7 advantage into halftime. 

THIRD QUARTER: 

• Panthers continued their offensive explosion in the third, scoring four goals over the first five minutes of the frame to increase their lead to 13-8.
• Rozgonyi scored the first goal of the second half off a feed from Sam Balch to make the score 10-7.
• SLU answered 42 seconds later to cut the margin to two, but the Panthers tallied three more goals over 63 seconds with Bowie, Collin Stewart and Duffy providing the tallies, to push their lead to five with 10:00 left on the clock.
• Later in the quarter, Duffy beat his defender on the wing and scored his third goal of the day to increase Tech’s lead to 14-8 with 6:05 to go. 
• Lions gain some momentum back later in the third quarter as Guy Bistrow and Tyler Eames connected on three straight goals within a span of 23 seconds to trim their team’s deficit to 15-12 heading to the fourth. 

FOURTH QUARTER:

• SLU made it a 15-13 game with 7:32 left in regulation, but that would be the visiting team’s final tally as the Panthers closed the contest with four straight goals and cruised to their first conference win of the season. 
• Rozgonyi scored his fourth and fifth goals of the game during the run while Stewart and Griffin Martin added the other tallies. Patrick Stewart assisted two of the final four goals.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Zach Rozgonyi tied a game-high with 7 points on 5 goals and 2 assists to go along with 3 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
• Bennett Duffy and Sam Sidari each finished with hat tricks. Duffy also had 3 ground balls. 
• Griffin Bowie scored 2 goals and added 1 assist.
• Brennan Banks added a goal and 2 assists to go along with 3 ground balls.
• Collin Stewart recorded 2 goals, 4 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
• Justin Williams scored twice and collected 2 ground balls and 1 caused turnover.
• Patrick Stewart had 2 assists and 2 ground balls.
• Ethan Tosheff won 14-26 faceoffs and picked up 10 ground balls.
• Sam Balch finished with 6 ground balls and 4 caused turnovers.
• Connor Young collected 4 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers.
• John Hulsman made 11 saves and improved to 6-3 in goal for the Panthers.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Tech finished with an edge in shots (52-27), shots on goal (39-24), ground balls (52-42) and caused turnovers (21-7).
• Both teams earned 17 faceoff wins out of 34 attempts. 
• Panthers were 15-17 on clears while SLU went 15-23. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech’s 21 caused turnovers against the Lions are the most in a game in program history. 
• Zach Rozgonyi’s 5 goals today were 1 short of the single-game goals record held by former Panthers Daniel Errett and Tajee Mobley. 
• Justin Williams’ 2 goals moves him into fourth on the program’s career points list with 120 and fourth on the all-time goals list with 74. 
• Ethan Tosheff’s 14 faceoff wins moves him into third all-time with 285 career wins.
• Sam Balch’s 30 caused turnovers this season are third most in a season and ninth most all-time in program history.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech is back in action next Saturday, April 2 as the Panthers travel to Boca Raton for an SSC matchup with Lynn. The contest is set to begin at noon at Bobby Campbell 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.

*****

Lions Fall to Panthers in SSC Opener on the Road

MELBOURNE, Fla. –  The Saint Leo men’s lacrosse team fell 19-13 at Florida Tech in the program’s Sunshine State Conference opener on Saturday. The decision moved the Green and Gold’s record to 5-3 overall, 0-1 in the SSC. Meanwhile, Florida Tech improved to 6-3 on the season, 1-0 in the league.
 
Florida Tech edged Saint Leo with big second and fourth quarters.
 
Although the Lions were on the wrong side of the decision, Tyler Eames dished out another seven points, his fourth straight seven-point game, with a hat-trick and four assists.
 
Evan Wray added four points with a goal and three assists followed by Guy Bistrow, who also earned a hat-trick against the Panthers.
 
The Lions continue action on Saturday, April 2 at 5:00 p.m. in West Palm Beach, Fla. to face Palm Beach Atlantic.
 
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.

*****

SportsLowdown.com – by Donny Rieber, Jr.

Panthers Outlast Saint Leo in Conference Opener

Excerpt:

The 14th-ranked Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team opened Sunshine State Conference play on Saturday with a statement win against a very tough Saint Leo squad, winning 19-13 in the Backyard on the campus of Florida Tech.

It was the second win this week for the Panthers, who got a home win against No. 20 Colorado Mesa on Wednesday. Although Saint Leo was not ranked they came into Saturday’s game with a 5-2 record and were receiving votes in the latest poll.

“We weren’t entirely happy with our effort and execution Wednesday against a solid Mesa squad and wanted a bounce-back effort in our conference opener,” said Panthers coach Brad MacArthur in an email sent to SportsLowdown after the game.

Read the rest HERE