Viera alum Nate Deplancke 1G, St Edward’s alum Danny Richmond 1A, Viera alum Gavin Wessel 2GBs for FIT. Lakeland alum Kaleb Cook 2G/3A/2GBs, Stoneman alum Thomas Frank 1G/1GB, SJP alum Nick Shannon 1GB/4CTOs, Mitchell alum Charlie Fisher 1G/3GBs for FSC.

BOX SCORE

Strong Third Quarter Pushes Panthers Past Mocs

by Christina Hardman

MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Tech men’s lacrosse welcomed the #18-ranked Florida Southern Mocs to Rick Stottler Field on Wednesday night. The Panthers used a strong third quarter to pull away, and a late rally by the visitors was not enough as the Panthers held on for their second straight victory and improved to 4-1 in SSC play.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: RV Florida Tech 15, #18 Florida Southern 12
Records: RV Florida Tech (5-6, 4-1 SSC) | #18 Florida Southern (8-6, 2-4 SSC)
Locations: Rick Stottler Field | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• The Panthers struck first on an unassisted goal by Ben Foster with 12:11 on the clock.
• FSC evened the game at 1-1 a minute later, but Tech was able to grab a 3-1 advantage with 4:09 to go in the first quarter on another unassisted goal from Foster, followed by a tally from JR Radun.
• With 1:16 to go, the Mocs tacked on another one to cut the margin as Tech took a one-goal lead into the second frame.

SECOND QUARTER:

• The Mocs scored two consecutive goals to take their first lead of the game, 4-3 with 13:02 to go.
• Foster had a hand in the next two Panther goals, finding Collin Stewart for his lone goal of the game, then scoring unassisted with 6:28 left in the half to tie it up, 4-4.
• Teams would trade goals over the final four minutes to go 7-7 into the break. The Panther’s goals came from Zach Rozgonyi, with Stewart on the assist before Danny Richmond found Brooks Van Esselstyn in front of the net.

THIRD QUARTER:

• The Panthers went on a 6-1 run in the third period to take a 13-8 advantage.
• Joe Coveleski got the run started on an unassisted effort with 12:42 remaining.
• Griffin Martin scored on a bouncer before Cam Johnson fired one into the back of the net.
• Martin then assisted Foster for his fourth of the day with 5:37 to go.
• Tech’s final two goals of the period were scored by Nate Deplancke off a feed from Rozgonyi and Andrew Walenty, unassisted.

FOURTH QUARTER:

• The Mocs outscored the Panthers 4-2 in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough as Tech took the 15-12 win.
• The Panther goals were scored by Rozgonyi off a feed from Stewart and Martin, unassisted.
• Jax Francisco recorded four saves in the period.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Ben Foster led with five points on four goals and one assist. He also collected two ground balls.
• Griffin Martin and Zach Rozgonyi tallied three points a piece on two goals and one assist.
• Collin Stewart added three points on one goal and two assists.
• Joe Coveleski, Nate Deplancke, Brooks Van Esselstyn, Andrew Walenty, Cam Johnson, and JR Radun each posted one goal.
• Radun also tallied two caused turnovers and three ground balls.
• Danny Richmond recorded one assist.
• Ricky Fedorchak led the defense with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
• Jax Francisco recorded 15 saves for a .556 save percentage.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech ended with an advantage in shots (43-39) and had fewer turnovers (17-15).
• Florida Southern recorded more shots on goal (27-26) and more ground balls (31-23).
• Florida Tech was 0-4 on man-up opportunities while FSC finished 1-1.
• Tech went 20-25 on clears and FSC went 13-19.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech moves to 6-6 all-time against the Florida Southern Mocassins.
• The Panthers have won five of the past seven matchups dating back to 2017. Each of the past six meetings has been decided by four goals or less.
• Zach Rozgonyi tied the program record for goals, held by Reid Chaconas ’21.
• JP Panchookian moved to 10th on the all-time program leaders list for caused turnovers.
• Joe Coveleski became just the fifth Panther to score 20 goals as a freshman and the first since CJ Nicholas in 2014.
• JR Radun’s goal was the first of his career.
• Ben Foster’s five points are a season-high.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech is on the road Saturday April, 13^th as they head to Boca Raton, Fla. to face Lynn at 3:00 p.m.

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.

*****

Late Comeback Comes Up Short for #18 Mocs at Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The 18^th-ranked Florida Southern College men’s lacrosse team traveled for the final time during the regular season Wednesday night as the Moccasins took on conference foe Florida Tech. The Panthers used a strong third quarter to pull away from the Mocs and a late rally by the visitors was not enough as Florida Tech hung on for the 15-12 victory.  
 
The loss drops Florida Southern to 8-6 on the season including 2-4 in SSC play while the Panthers improved to 4-6 while moving to 3-1 in league action.
 
Seniors Kaleb Cook and Brendan Glasser led the offensive attack for the Mocs as they finished with five and four points, respectively. Cook tallied two goals and a team-best three assists while Glasser finished with a team-high four goals in the loss. Six others each had one score for the Mocs.
 
Defensively, graduate student Nick Shannon became the all-time leader in caused turnovers as Florida Southern as he surpassed Austen Lison’s (2016-19) record of 123. Shannon caused a team-best four turnovers Wednesday night to move to 125 career caused turnovers to take over the No. 1 spot.
 
Sophomore Jacob Czyz continued to shine at the ‘X’ as he went 22-of-31 (.710) with 12 ground balls and a goal.
 
Senior Michael Simone saw the opening 41 minutes of action in goal while making nine saves. Junior Levi Shapiro played the final 19 minutes while making two saves. Simone suffered the loss and moved to 8-6 on the season.
 
Florida Tech was led by Ben Foster who scored four goals while handing out one assist. Jax Francisco saw all 60 minutes in the cage and made 15 saves for the Panthers.
 
The opening quarter saw the Panthers strike first just under three minutes into the game but Cook had the answer just over a minute later as the two teams were tied 1-1 after four minutes of play. The Panthers snuck in two more goals with under eight minutes to play in the period but a late goal by Glasser ended the short run. The Mocs trailed 3-2 after the opening 15 minutes of action.
 
Back-to-back goals by Thomas Frank and Cook in the opening minutes of the second gave FSC its first lead of the game at 4-3. The Panthers tied the game back up just 43 seconds later and the game remained tied until the 7:35 mark. The Mocs once again broke through as Nolan Tighe found the back of the net to put the visitors up 5-4. FT scored two goals within two minutes of each other to swap the lead once more at 6-5 with 4:28 left in the half. The final three minutes off the half featured three goals as Glasser began the run at 2:47 but was answered by the Panthers as 1:27. With just under a minute to play, Charlie Fisher tied the game at 7-7, and the score remained 7-7 heading into the break.
 
The third quarter proved to be costly for the Mocs as the Panthers outscored FSC 6-1 in the period. The Panthers opened the scoring just over two minutes into the half but FSC responded with a man-up goal at the 10:23 mark as Joey Shaughnessy broke through off an assist from Cook. The Panthers then scored five-unanswered goals through the final 10 minutes of the third to take a commanding 13-8 lead.  
 
The Mocs flipped the script in the fourth as they out-scored the Panthers 4-2 but it was not enough to overcome the five-goal deficit. Cook opened the scoring at the 12:44 mark before a Florida Tech response one minute later. Glasser and Czyz scored three-straight for the Mocs as Glasser scored the first two followed by a face off win and score by Czyz just seven seconds later. FSC was unable to score over the final 4:43 as the Panthers added one more goal with 2:01 left for the final tally of 15-12.
 
The Mocs will next be in action Wednesday, April 17 in the regular season finale versus Lynn. The opening face off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Berend Field.