via press release – photo by Amanda Stratford Photography   MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – 20^th-ranked Florida Tech (5-2) will be up against its toughest challenge of the season Saturday when it takes on No. 1 Limestone (8-0) at 1 p.m. ET at Saints Field. The Panthers are fresh off a spring break road trip in which the team finished with a 2-1 record while playing in three different states over four days. FIT opened the trip by coming from behind to stun Wheeling Jesuit 12-11 in overtime on Monday. The team then fell to No. 4 Seton Hill 11-7 on Wednesday before ending the voyage the next day with an 11-7 victory over Alderson Broaddus. Long stick midfielder Addison Abramson had an impressive stretch for the Panthers, collecting a total of eight ground balls and five caused turnovers over the three games. For his effort, the freshman was named both the Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Week and the USILA/Lids Team Sports National Defensive Player of the Week. He is the program’s first ever recipient of the national award. Newcomer Cody Martin racked up eight points over the three games and currently paces Florida Tech with 17 points on 11 goals and six assists. Brian Bacarellaand Charlie Morrisette are just behind with 16 points each. Bacarella has 11 goals and five assists while Morrisette leads FIT with nine assists. Austen Zugelter is tied for the team-lead with 11 goals while freshmen Tyler Covey and Logan Sweeney have recorded 12 and 10 points, respectively this season. Abramson leads FIT with 13 caused turnovers in seven games and Travis Wunder has a team-best 32 ground balls to go along with his .618 (97-157) win percentage on faceoffs. Florida Tech will need to be at the top of its game on Saturday if it wants to keep pace with the high flying Saints who lead the nation in scoring offense at 20.13 goals per game. Limestone, the two-time defending national champion, has breezed through its schedule so far this season and is outscoring opponents 161-63 through its first eight games. The closest margin of victory for the Saints is eight goals coming in its most recent game, a 23-15 win at Florida Southern on March 12. Kyle Rhatigan registered a career-high six goals to go along with two assists in the victory over FSC. He leads the Saints in points with 33 on 21 goals and 12 assists while Charlie Sheehan has 30 points on 19 goals and 11 assists this season. Preseason player of the year candidate Mike Messenger boasts a team-high 25 goals to go along with three assists and Kevin Reisman leads the nation with a .727 faceoff win percentage and 10 ground balls per game. This will be the first ever meeting between the Panthers and Saints. Links to live coverage, courtesy of Limestone, are available at www.FloridaTechSports.com.   Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/limestone/mlax Live Video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/limestone-college 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