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

BOX SCORE

No. 17 Florida Tech Secures First SSC Win in Rout of PBA

by Daniel Supraner

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: No. 17 Florida Tech 15, Palm Beach Atlantic 4
Records: Florida Tech (8-1, 1-1 SSC), PBA (2-7, 0-2 SSC)
Location: Panther Stadium | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• Panthers outscored the Sailfish 5-0 and had an 11-3 edge in shots during the first quarter. 
• Caroline MacLeod opened the scoring with an unassisted goal with 11:35 to go in the frame.
• Kayla Minton scored 33 seconds later to give Tech a 2-0 lead. 
• Carly Niro tallied her first goal of the game on an unassisted effort with 5:56 remaining.
• Karly Liebendorfer made it a 4-0 lead with 3:29 left before Niro scored another unassisted goal for push the advantage to 5-0 with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter.  

SECOND QUARTER:

• PBA opened the second quarter with consecutive goals to cut the margin to 5-2 with 11:42 left.
• Panthers answered with three straight tallies, one each from MacLeod, Jennifer Boyle and Minton to increase Tech’s lead to 8-2 with 10 seconds to go before halftime.  

THIRD QUARTER: 

• Just like the first quarter, the Panthers outscored the Sailfish 5-0 in the third to make the score 13-2 heading into the fourth. 
• Rachel Johnson scored twice during the third quarter, the first one coming off an assist from Niro just 1:05 into the frame. 
• MacLeod completed her hat trick to increase the lead to 10-2 with 12:16 left. 
• Fallon Mears tallied her third goal of the season off an assist from Niro with 7:55 to go.
• Johnson found Niro near the crease for the score with 5:08 left, and then Johnson scored with 2:41 remaining in the third to push Tech’s lead to 11.    

FOURTH QUARTER:

• Sailfish scored 2:02 into the fourth to cut the margin to 13-3 but Elizabeth Christ answered on the ensuing draw control, as she collected the ball and raced down the field and scored her second of the season. 
• Later in the quarter, Madison Savje scored off a pass from Caroline Finn to make the score 15-3 with 5:41 to go. 
• PBA added one more goal late in the fourth and the Panthers went on to earn their first SSC victory of the season.  
   

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Carly Niro led all players with 3 goals and 2 assists to go along with 2 caused turnovers and 1 ground ball. 
• Caroline MacLeod recorded 3 goals, 1 assist, 5 draw controls, 2 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers. 
• Rachel Johnson added 2 goals and 1 assist. 
• Kayla Minton tallied 2 goals and 4 ground balls. 
• Charlotte Hardie picked up 5 draw controls.
• Millie Hurt finished with 3 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
• Mackenzie Smith and Ashley Walter each had 2 ground balls and 1 caused turnover.
• Cailey Canessa earned her 8th win of the season in goal for the Panthers, making 8 saves while facing 21 total shots. .

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech finished with an edge in shots (31-21), shots on goal (22-15), ground balls (21-20) and draw controls (13-10).
• Panthers converted just 4-6 free position attempts compared to PBA who went 1-6.
• PBA was 15-17 on clears while Tech was successful on 19-22 attempts.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech improves to 5-0 all-time versus Palm Beach Atlantic. 
• Kayla Minton became the 8th different Panther in program history to have a 30-goal season. 
• Caroline MacLeod surpassed the 100-draw control mark in the game and is now 6th in the program record book with 101 career draw controls. 

UP NEXT: Florida Tech is on the road this Saturday, April 9 as the Panthers continue SSC play against Saint Leo. The matchup with the Lions is set to begin at 7 p.m. at University 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.

*****

Sailfish Go Down to Panthers on the Road

by Brad Seitz, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications

MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic women’s lacrosse team took the trip north to face off with Florida Tech. The Panthers jumped out to a quick lead in the first quarter and held on throughout to claim the 15-4 victory.

The Sailfish struggled to gain possession early on as the Panthers came out on top in the draw control battle, winning the first six of the game. They turned that possession advantage into an 11-3 shot advantage in the opening quarter. Florida Tech scored on five of those shots while PBA’s two shots on goal were saved as the Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 first-quarter lead. 

The offense arrived for the ‘Fish in the second quarter as Ella Howlin found the back of the net at the 12:26 mark in the second quarter. Sara Metheny found a cutting Kiki Cinotti off a free-position attempt and Cinotti was able to put home her seventh goal of the season. PBA looked like they had cut the deficit to two goals but the third goal was overturned for a stick violation. From that point on, the momentum stalled as the Panthers scored the next three goals to lead 8-2 at the half. 

Florida Tech opened the second half the same way they started the first as they outscored PBA 5-0 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach for good. PBA was outshot 31-21 in the game as goalie Courtney Rausch was able to make some big saves early, but was under too much pressure throughout the game as she finished with seven saves. The Sailfish would two goals in the fourth Megan Jackson found the back of the net and Cinotti scored her second. Mattie Davis led the ‘Fish with four draw controls as PBA had the upper hand excluding the opening quarter of play. 

It doesn’t get any easier for the Sailfish in their next game as they head to face Tampa on Saturday. The Spartans enter the game with a 5-5 record but are ranked the No. 15 team in the country. 

*****

SportsLowdown.com

by Donny Rieber, Jr.

No. 17 Women’s Lacrosse Pounds PBA

Excerpt:

The 17th-ranked Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team got a big conference win on Wednesday, beating the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish 15-4 at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.

The Panthers triggered the running clock with 5:08 left in the third quarter after going up by 10 goals and cruised to their eighth win of the season. With the win, the Panthers improve to 8-1 overall and 1-1 in the Sunshine State Conference. They are now 5-0 all-time against the Sailfish.

Carly Niro led the Panthers in scoring with three goals and two assists. Caroline MacLeod had three goals and an assist. Rachel Johnson and Kayla Minton added two goals each. Johnson had an assist as well.

Read the rest HERE