thanks to Daniel Supraner, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications – Florida Tech Athletics for this press release   Third quarter run propels No. 2 seed FIT to victory over No. 3 seed Rollins MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – Florida Tech (12-3, 4-2 SSC) fell behind early to Rollins College (6-9, 2-4 SSC) in the semifinals of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Friday, but a monstrous third quarter run lifted the Panthers to a 12-6 victory over the Tars. With the win, FIT advances to the SSC Championship game for the first time in program history. “Today was another milestone for the program,” said head coach Ryan McAleavey. “Making it to the conference championship game is huge for these guys and the program.” Senior Andrew Conley paced the Panther offense with four goals and sophomore Ben Abell added a hat trick in the win. Sophomore Austen Zugelter finished with one goal and two assists while seniors Zach Wynne and Frank Schornagle recorded one goal and one assist each. Rollins scored first off an unassisted goal from Nicholas Schultz. FIT answered with a fast break goal by senior Christian Isola off an assist from fellow senior Jordan Carlock. The Tars scored two more times in the final 2:20 of the first quarter to jump up 3-1 heading into the second period. Zugelter drove down the left alley and fired a shot past Rollins goalkeeper Thomas Troiano for the first score of the second quarter. David Talda scored less than three minutes later to push the Tars’ lead to 4-2, but Conley responded with his first goal of the game to decrease the Panthers’ deficit to 4-3 heading into the break. Rollins opened the scoring in the second half with a goal by Carson Buell. Florida Tech answered with another on-the-run score by Schornagle, then Conley tallied two straight goals within a minute to give FIT its first lead of the game. Junior Jason Terry would find sophomore Charlie Morrisette open on a man up to increase the lead to 7-5. Zugelter then found Abell open on the crease for two consecutive goals to push FIT’s lead to four entering the final stanza. Conley and Abell scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to increase the Panthers advantage to 11-5. After a 16 minute scoreless drought, Rollins finally answered with an unassisted goal by Talda with 9:34 remaining in the game.  Wynne scored the final goal of the game off a great assist by senior Ryan Bailey. The Panthers outshot the Tars (34-25) and won the battle for ground balls (32-23). Sophomore Travis Wunder was impressive in the faceoff X, winning 16-of-22 attempts against the Tars. Senior Eric Biller was a wall for the Panthers, finishing with 11 saves, including a number right on his crease. “The heat affected us in the first half, but we came out strong in the second half and started to put some points on the board,” stated McAleavey. “We had a lot of players step-up for us today. Travis Wunder won all of his faceoffs in the first half. He kept us in the game by winning his draws. Ben Abell stepped up with three goals when we needed it. We need to continue this type of play on Sunday in the championship game.” The Panthers will face the winner of the second semifinal game between No. 1 seed Tampa and No. 4 seed Lynn at 8 p.m. The SSC Championship will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Naimoli Stadium in Tampa, Florida.   Box Score: http://www.floridatechsports.com/media/2014-15/mlacrosse/stats/fitm15.htm 2015 Schedule: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/schedule/ 2015 Roster: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/roster/   Daniel Supraner Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Florida Tech Athletics 150 W. University Blvd. Melbourne, Fla. 32901 Work: 321-674-7484 Fax: 321-984-8529