via press release   GAFFNEY, S.C. (Men’s Lacrosse) – No. 20 Florida Tech was no match for two-time defending national champion Limestone on Saturday as the No.1-ranked Saints rattled-off 17 unanswered goals to open the game and cruised to a 23-7 victory on their home field. Austen Zugelter accounted for three of the Panthers’ seven goals in the game while Brett Pohlmeyer added two of his own.Jason Terry finished with a goal and an assist and Teddy Chasescored his first career goal in the loss. Addison Abramsoncontinued his impressive play by collecting five ground balls to go along with a game-high three caused turnovers. Preseason Player of the Year Mike Messenger tallied the opening goal just 39 seconds into the game. From there not many things went wrong for the Limestone offense in the first half as the Saints got off 26 shots and outscored the Panthers 18-1 with seven different players finding the back of the net. Florida Tech finally got on the board with 23 seconds remaining in the first half when Zugelter squeezed off a shot by Patrick Sheridan to make it 17-1. However, it would be answered 11 seconds later when Kevin Reisman picked up the ensuing faceoff and fed Colton Watkinson who found Jordan Saunderson on the break to increase LC’s advantage to 18-1 before halftime. Following three straight tallies by the Saints’ Kyle Rhatigan to start the third quarter, Zugelter and Pohlmeyer connected on consecutive goals to make it 21-3. Logan Sweeney then found Terry for a rocket from the wing to bring the score to 22-4 at the 2:57 mark of the period. Zugelter completed his hat trick with 2:20 left in the fourth to it get the score to 23-5 before Tyler Covey found Chase for the unlikely goal 26 seconds later. Covey picked up one more assist with four seconds remaining when he fed Pohlmeyer at the top of the box who then fired a jump shot passed Cole Aikens to make it a 16-goal margin before the final whistle. After taking 13 shots in the first half, the Panthers picked it up after halftime with 23 shots over the third and fourth quarters. The Saints dominated on the loose balls picking up 39 compared to FIT’s 29 in the game. LC also grabbed one more faceoff win than the Panthers (17-16). Saunderson and Rhatigan each finished with seven points in the game. Saunderson with a game-high five goals and two assists and Rhatigan registering four goals and three assists. Vinny Ricci and Chris Clancy recorded three goals and two assists apiece and Charlie Sheehan added a hat trick. Reisman won 14-of-26 faceoffs and picked up a game-high eight ground balls. In between the pipes, Christian Koch (3-3) finished with four saves, and only one after the first quarter, while Sheridan (9-0) allowed just one goal while making nine saves in over 33 minutes of action. The coaches emptied the benches in this one and, as a result, a total of 70 different players from either side touched the field during the contest. The loss to Limestone closed out the non-conference slate for the Panthers. They will now prepare for their Sunshine State Conference opener against Florida Southern on Saturday, March 26 at 7 p.m. in Lakeland, Florida. Fans can access live coverage of the contest at FloridaTechSports.com.   Box Score: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/boxscore/2015-16/5415/florida-tech-vs-1-limestone-03-19-2016/ 2016 Schedule: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/schedule/ 2016 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