via the school press releases and SportsLowdown.com

BOX SCORE

Panthers Upset No. 10 Tars in Regular Season Finale

Florida Tech rolls past Rollins 13-10 to close out 2022 season

by Daniel Supraner

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Florida Tech 13, No. 10 Rollins 10
Records: Florida Tech (9-5, 2-5 SSC), Rollins (13-3, 4-3 SSC)
Location: Panther Stadium | Melbourne, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER:

• Panthers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Madison Savje off an assist from Rachel Johnson. 
• Caroline MacLeod made it a 2-0 lead with 10:53 left in the first quarter. 
• Rollins got on the board 30 seconds later to trim the margin to 2-1. 

SECOND QUARTER:

• Kayla Minton pushed Tech’s lead to 3-1 off an assist from Kailee O’Brien with 12:28 to go. 
• Rollins answered with three consecutive goals to grab a 4-3 advantage with 6:26 left in the first half. 
• Kayla Minton scored her second of the game off an assist from Charlotte Hardie to tie the game at 4-4 with 5:48 remaining. 
• Jennifer Boyle gave the Panthers a 5-4 lead with 4:05 left with her lone goal of the game. 
• Tars closed the first half with three unanswered goals and took a 7-5 lead into halftime. 

THIRD QUARTER: 

• Panthers opened the second half with six straight tallies to go up 11-7 with 2:48 to go.
• Minton recorded two goals and one assist during the run. Johnson provided two goals while Hardie and MacLeod scored one goal apiece. 
• Rollins trimmed the margin to 11-8 with 54 seconds left in the third quarter.  

FOURTH QUARTER:

• Rachel Johnson scored her third of the game with 12:31 to go and pushed Tech’s lead to 12-8. 
• Hardie increased the margin to 13-8 with 1:56 left. 
• Tars closed the game scoring a pair of goals, including one at the buzzer, and the Panthers went on to upset No. 10 Rollins by a score of 13-10. 

NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Kayla Minton led all players with 5 points on 4 goals and 1 assist. 
• Rachel Johnson recorded a hat trick to go along with 1 assist. 
• Charlotte Hardie added 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball, 1 draw control and 1 caused turnover. 
• Caroline MacLeod finished with 2 goals, 5 draw controls, 3 ground balls and 1 caused turnover. 
• Jennifer Boyle and Madison Savje each scored 1 goal and combined to pick up 5 ground balls. 
• Kailee O’Brien dished out an assist to go along with 4 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers and 2 draw controls. 
• Elizabeth Christ collected 4 draw controls. 
• Ashley Walter picked up 3 ground balls. 
• Making her first career start in goal, Kellen Lucchesi finished with 9 saves and a .474 saves percentage to earn her first career win. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech finished with an edge in shots (27-26) and shots on goal (20-19)
• Rollins had more ground balls (23-20) and caused turnovers (13-8). 
• Both teams collected 12 draw controls. 
• Rollins went 4-6 on free position tries while Tech was 0-2.
• Panthers were 18-20 on clears compared to 16-17 for Rollins. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Panthers pick up their first win over a top 10 opponent since defeating No. 5 Regis on March 3, 2020. 
• Florida Tech’s 9 wins this season are the most under head coach McKenzie Rafferty, and the most since the 2018 season. 
• Tech snapped a two-game losing streak to Rollins. 
• Kayla Minton is now tied for the most woman-down goals in a career with 5, tying the mark set by Caroline Dunleavy. 
• Kailee O’Brien finishes her career ranking tied for 9th in program history with 26 career assists. 
• Caroline MacLeod concludes her collegiate career ranking 6th in program history with 118 career draw controls.
• MacLeod and Rachel Johnson become the 10th and 11th players in program history to record 30+ goals in a season. 

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.

*****

Rollins Drops Decision Against Panthers

The Tars fell in Sunshine State Conference action, dropping a 13-10 decision on the road, against Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. (April 23, 2022) – The Tars fell in Sunshine State Conference action, dropping a 13-10 decision on the road, against Florida Tech. The Tars fall to 13-3 overall and 4-3 in conference play.  The Panthers improve to 9-5 overall, and 2-5 in SSC action.

The Tars got a team high four goals from Abigail DeGroat.  Taylor Kienle scored twice, and tallied one assist, for a total of three points.  Whitney MacMillan led the defense, causing three turnovers and picking up three groundballs.  Rachel Schlesinger made five stops in cage before being relieved by Claire Barber, who made a pair of saves.

Kayla Minton found the back of the net four times for the Panthers, while adding one assist, good for five points.  Rachel Johnson added a hat trick for Florida Tech.  Kellen Lucchesi made nine stops, playing the full 60 minutes in net.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter

• Florida Tech started the game with a pair of quick scores, putting Rollins in an early hole.
• Liz Fahey got Rollins on the board, scoring on an assist from Taylor Kienle.

Second Quarter

• The Panthers opened the quarter with another goal to keep the Tars down a pair.
• Abigail DeGroat scored a pair of unassisted goals to bring Rollins level just after the eight minute mark.
• Abigail Calwey then registered a score to give the Tars their first lead.
• A pair of Panthers goals put Florida Tech back on top in the back and forth first half.
• Caroline Gastonguay tied the game at 5-5 at the three minute mark.
• Claire Reist and Taylor Kienle each found the back of the net in the final minute of the half, as the Tars took a 7-5 lead into the locker room.

Third Quarter

• After five scoreless minutes, the Panthers tallied the first goal of the second half.  The score kicked off a six goal onslaught that put Florida Tech in front for good.
• Taylor Kienle scored with less than a minute on the clock, making the count 11-8 heading into the last 15 minutes.

Fourth Quarter

• The Panthers scored early in the period, growing their lead to 12-8.
• Both teams held each other off the board for 11 minutes, before Florida Tech ballooned their lead to 13-8 with just less than two minutes remaining.
• Rollins got a pair of Abigail DeGroat goals in the final minutes, but it was too little, too late for Rollins, as the Tars fell 13-10.

UP NEXT:
The Tars now await their SSC Tournament fate.  The 2022 SSC Tournament kicks off on Thursday, April 28.

Fans can follow the Tars all season long at RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

*****

SportsLowdown.com

Panthers Upset No. 10 Rollins in Season Finale

by Donny Rieber, Jr.

Excerpt:

The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team closed their 2022 season on a high note Saturday, defeating the 10th-ranked Rollins College Tars 13-10 at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.

The Panthers (9-5, 2-5 SSC) got four goals and an assist from Kayla Minton, while Rachel Johnson netted a hat trick to go with an assist. Caroline MacLeod and Charlotte Hardie each had two goals, while Madison Savje and Jennifer Boyle each scored once.

The offense helped Kellen Lucchesi pick up the win in the net for the Panthers, as she came up with nine saves on Rollins’ 19 shots on goal.

Read the rest HERE