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FIT Women: No. 20 Panthers Hold Off Mavericks in Rain-Soaked Game

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in .
via press release – photo by Amanda Stratford Photography   MELBOURNE, Fla. (Women’s Lacrosse) – 20th-ranked Florida Tech (8-2) found itself locked in a defensive struggle and trailed by one goal at halftime against Mercy (5-3) in a rain-soaked game Thursday afternoon. However, despite battling tumultuous weather conditions, the Panthers’ offense finally broke through and outscored the Mavericks 4-1 in the second half to earn a 5-3 victory at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. Allie Modica and Mary Gormley each scored twice in the game while Caroline Dunleavy added a goal. Sam Schiano was impressive between the restraining lines, as the freshman led all players with six draw controls and five caused turnovers. Allie Wood had a good defensive performance recording three ground balls and three draw controls. After a sloppy first half, in which the teams combined for 29 total turnovers, the Mavericks held a 2-1 halftime advantage thanks to Nicole Kline’s unassisted tally with 7:51 remaining in the frame. Modica quickly tied the game 55 tics into the second half on her free position goal, however MC would again pull ahead, 3-2, off Alexa Haines’s score at the 25:44 mark. Consecutive goals by Dunleavy and Gormley over a span of 39 seconds handed the Panthers their first lead of the game, 4-3, with 21:46 left on the clock. Modica then sealed the victory with 22 seconds remaining to give FIT a program-best eighth win of the season. Neither team got off many shots in the contest with the Mavericks holding a narrow 15-14 edge. Florida Tech collected more ground balls (24-21) and draws (6-4) in the game and went 2-for-2 on free position attempts while holding MC to 0-for-3 on its tries. Grace Davidson led the Mavericks with one goal and one assist, while Kline and Haines each added a goal. Hunter Isnardi notched an assist to go along with four ground balls. Meg McNally recorded four ground balls and a team-high three caused turnovers for Mercy. The victory ended a 10-game home stand by Florida Tech to start the season. FIT will play its first road games this weekend when it visits No. 3 Lindenwood on Saturday, March 26 at 8 p.m. ET in St. Charles, Missouri. The Panthers will then face McKendree on Monday at 5 p.m. in Lebanon, Illinois. Fans can access live coverage of Florida Tech’s games at www.FloridaTechSports.com.   Box Score: http://www.floridatechsports.com/wlacrosse/boxscore/2015-16/5397/mercy-vs-florida-tech-03-24-2016/ 2016 Schedule: http://www.floridatechsports.com/wlacrosse/schedule/ 2016 Roster: http://www.floridatechsports.com/wlacrosse/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