via Florida Tech press release/website, by Alex Henderson

BOX SCORE

HICKORY, N.C. – The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse program started out it’s trip to North Carolina with a 16-8 win over Lenoir-Rhyne. Sophia Scichilone led the Panthers charge with seven points from three goals and four assists.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida Tech 16, Lenoir-Rhyne 8
Records: Florida Tech (2-1, 0-0 SSC), Lenoir-Rhyne (1-1, 0-0 SAC)
Locations: Moretz Stadium | Hickory, N.C.  

FIRST QUARTER:

• Lenoir-Rhyne got on the board Early with its first goal coming 1:03 into the game, scored on a free position by Chloe Christensen.
• Florida Tech would go on to rally for three straight goals in under two minutes to go ahead 3-1 highlighted by a both Carly Niro and Kayla Minton each recording two points with a goal and assist.
• Kirra Olson of the Bears scored a woman-up free position goal with 8:23 left in the quarter before Karly Liebendorfer would answer back to make it a 4-2 game with 6:14 remaining.
• The Bears would close out the first quarter scoring back-to-back goals to tie it 4-4 with 40 seconds remaining.
• Following the Bears tying goal with 40-seconds to play in the quarter, the Panthers would go on to score two goals in the span of 20 seconds to take the 6-4 lead highlighted by Finn and Niro’s second goals of the game.
• Sophia Scichilone picked up both assists from Niro’s two goals.

SECOND QUARTER:

• Minton would open the second quarter with her second goal of the game as Sophia Scichilone picked up her third assist in the game with 11:48 to go before the half.
• Following a cold stretch from both teams, Minton would score her fourth goal of the game to put Tech ahead 8-4.
• Michaela Wittman and Scichilone would tack on another pair of goals for the Panthers before Ellie Campbell of the Bears made it a 10-5 game while breaking Tech’s streak of six unanswered goals.
• With the Panthers a women-up, Scichilone capitalized on the opportunity to score her second woman-up goal of the quarter to give the Panthers a 11-5 lead at the end of the first half.

THIRD QUARTER:

• Scichilone’s started the third, scoring her third goal in a row to help put the Panthers ahead 12-5 before Jennie Boyle added another point to Tech’s score at 13-5.
• Phoebe Hurt’s first goal of the season came with 7:21 left on the clock in third coming off Sophia Scichilone’s fourth assist of the evening as Tech pushed its lead to nine goals, 14-5.
• Sofie Benders first goal of her collegiate career would come with 1:20 to play in the third and give Tech a 10-goal lead over the Bears, 15-5.
• With 0:02 left in the third, Campbell found the back of the net following a woman-up free position goal to make it 15-6 at the end of the third.

FOURTH QUARTER: 

• Campbell would start off the fourth just as she ended the fourth by scoring her fourth goal of the game to bring the Bears deficit to eight.
• Campbell’s fifth goal of the game would come with 6:26 left on the clock before Charlotte Hardie scored her first goal of the game, assisted by Emma Angelo, to keep at an eight-goal game, 16-8.
• Neither team would manage to find the goal for the remainder of the game giving Tech it’s second win of the season to improve to 2-1 on the year.

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Sophia Scichilone would lead the Panthers offense with a total of seven points from three goals and four assists while also recording a team high four ground balls and tied with Phoebe Hurt for a team high three caused turnovers each.
• Kayla Minton collected five points from three goals and two assists.
• Carly Niro tallied two goals and two assists for four points.
• Cailey Canessa picked up her second win of the season in goal making six saves against 13 shots on goal for a .462 save percentage.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Florida Tech improves to 3-0 all-time against Lenoir-Rhyne.
• Cailey Canessa recorded the 10^th win of her career in goal joining Stephanie Stuart as the second Panther in program history to record 10 or more career wins since its start in 2015.
• With her three goals in the game, Kayla Minton surpasses Rachel Johnson for the programs leading goal scorer of the 2020’s.
• In team stats, Florida Tech out shot Lenoir-Rhyne in shots (36-16) and shots on goal (27-14) going 14-15 on clear attempts while scooping up 20 ground balls and winning 16 draw controls.
• The Bears managed to record 11 saves, were 10-22 on clear attempts, picked up 13 ground balls while winning 11 draw controls.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech will be back in action on Monday, February 19^th to take on No.11 Wingate in Wingate, North Caroline to conclude its two game road trip. First draw is scheduled for noon.

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.