via the school’s press releases, plus SportsLowdown.com, photo by Maggie Allen

BOX SCORE

Women’s Lacrosse Pulls Away Late in Win Over Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The 13th-ranked Embry-Riddle women’s lacrosse team scored five goals in the fourth quarter to pull away from Florida Tech in Sunshine State Conference action on Saturday. The Eagles won the battle of two undefeated teams with their 16-11 win over the Panthers, setting a program record for single-season wins (11) in the process. The Eagles are 11-0 overall and 1-0 in SSC play, while the Panthers fall to 7-1 and 0-1 in the SSC. 
 
Murphy McDonough led the ERAU offense with her second six-goal game of the season, while Elizabeth NInesling won 12 draws. Kenley Zeruto had a breakout game in Saturday’s win, finishing with four goals, compared to just one score in her four other appearances combined this season. 
 
The Eagles dominated the scoring early, opening a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers fought back in the second quarter outscoring ERAU 4-2, and at the half, the Eagle lead had been trimmed to one goal (7-6). 
 
An even third quarter saw both teams net four goals each. Florida Tech opened the scoring with Kayle Minton’s goal at the 13:57 mark and just over two minutes later, Rachel Johnson scored one of her three goals to give the Panthers their first lead of the afternoon.  
 
Both sides traded scores over the next eight minutes resulting in a 9-9 tie, but after Johnson netted her second goal of the frame, McDonough completed her third-quarter hat trick with two late scores to reclaim a one-goal (11-10) edge for the Blue and Gold. 
 
The fourth quarter was all Eagles. McDonough scored on free position shot to open the period and after she scored again, Zeruto, Ninesling and Aliza Garofalo, who finished with three goals, all got on the fourth-quarter scoresheet to seal the win for the Eagles. 
 
Aubrey Fixen had 11 stops in goal for the Eagles to improve her record to 11-0. 
 
The Eagles will be back on their home field at 7 p.m. on Wednesday for an NCAA II Top-15 showdown against 10th-ranked Rollins. 

*****

Florida Tech Dealt First Loss of Season in Top-20 Matchup with Embry-Riddle

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: No. 17 Florida Tech 11, No. 13 Embry-Riddle 16
Records: Florida Tech (7-1, 0-1 SSC), Embry-Riddle (11-0, 1-0 SSC)
Location: Panther Stadium | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• Jennifer Boyle opened the scoring for the Panthers as she converted a woman-up goal to tie the contest at 1-1 with 12:23 left in the first quarter. 
• After ERAU scored three unanswered goals, Rachel Johnson tallied her first goal of the day to cut the margin to 4-2 with 5:16 to go. 
• Eagles netted a woman-up goal late in the quarter and carried a 5-2 led heading to the second quarter. 

SECOND QUARTER:

• Boyle scored her second the of the game off an assist from Caroline MacLeod to trim the Panthers’ deficit to 6-3 with 11:57 to go. 
• ERAU answered 29 seconds later to push its advantage to 7-3. 
• Tech closed the half scoring three straight goals to make it a 7-6 game at halftime. Kayla Minton scored off an assist from MacLeod to begin the run and then Boyle found the back of the net twice, the second coming off an assist from MacLeod with 13 seconds remaining, to cut the margin to one at the break. 

THIRD QUARTER: 

• Panthers continued their strong offensive play as Minton scored her second of the game off another assist from MacLeod 63 seconds into the third to tie the game at 7-7. 
• Johnson gave Tech its first lead of the game, 8-7, scoring off an assist from Millie Hurt with 11:44 to go in the frame. 
• Eagles regained their lead, 9-8, at the 5:56 mark of the third.
• Kailee O’Brien tied the game up at 9-9 with 3:36 left and Johnson scored on a free position try to complete her hat trick and put the Panthers back in front, 10-9, with 2:49 remaining. 
• ERAU closed the third with a pair of goals over a 58-second span to take back the lead, 11-10, just before the end of the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER:

• Eagles controlled the fourth quarter as they piled on five unanswered goals to build a 16-10 lead. Four of ERAU’s tallies were woman-up goals as the Panthers’ foul troubles mounted during the quarter.   
• O’Brien ended the game’s scoring with two seconds left off an assist from Minton to bring the final margin to five as Tech was dealt its first loss of the season and drop to 0-1 in SSC play.
   

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Jennifer Boyle finished with 4 goals, 2 ground balls and 2 draw controls.
• Caroline MacLeod recorded 4 assists, 3 ground balls, 1 draw control and 1 caused turnover.
• Rachel Johnson added 3 goals.
• Kayla Minton tallied 2 goals, 1 assist and 2 ground balls.
• Kailee O’Brien had 2 goals, 3 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers and 1 draw control. 
• Ashley Walter finished with 3 caused turnovers and 1 ground ball.
• Cailey Canessa made a season-high 11 saves in net for the Panthers, her first career double-digit save performance.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• ERAU ended with an advantage in shots (34-27) and draw controls (21-9).
• Tech collected more ground balls (18-15).
• Panthers converted just 1-7 on free position attempts while the Eagles were successful on 4-10 tries.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech drops to 1-2 all-time versus Embry-Riddle.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech will look to bounce back on Wednesday, April 6 as the Panthers host Palm Beach Atlantic 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.

*****

SportsLowdown.com

by Donny Reiber, Jr.

ERAU Wins Battle of Unbeatens

Excerpt:

The 17th-ranked Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, dropping a 16-11 decision to No. 13 Embry-Riddle.

With the win, the Eagles improved to 11-0, while the Panthers fell to 7-1. It was the first Sunshine State Conference matchup for both teams.

Florida Tech starting goaltender Cailey Canessa kept the Panthers in it for the first three quarters, as this one could have gotten out of hand early. Canessa ended the day with a career-high 11 saves. 

Read the rest HERE