via press release – photo by Amanda Stratford Photography   MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – After spending the entire month of March competing on the road, Florida Tech (5-4, 0-1 SSC) hopes that its return to Florida Tech Panther Stadium will help jumpstart a late season run, beginning with Friday’s Sunshine State Conference home opener against No. 17 Saint Leo (7-2, 0-1 SSC) at 7 p.m. ET. The Panthers amassed a record of 2-3 in March, with all three losses coming within their last four games. Two of those defeats, however, were against top-level competition in 4^th-ranked Seton Hill and No.1 Limestone. Florida Tech is coming off a 12-5 loss in its SSC opener against Florida Southern last Friday, March 26 in Lakeland. The teams closed the first quarter tied at 1-1 but from there the Mocs outscored the Panthers 7-0 on just 13 shots to take an 8-1 lead into the break. After FIT cut the deficit to 9-5, FSC scored the final three goals in the fourth quarter to garner the win. Cody Martin paces the Crimson and Gray with 19 points on 13 goals and six assists while Brian Bacarella’s 17 points are second on the team. Tyler Covey leads the Panthers with 10 assists to go along with six goals and Austen Zugelter is the top goal scorer with 15 on 33 shots. Addison Abramson’s 16 caused turnovers are third in the SSC this season while his 1.78 caused turnovers per game ranks 15^thin the nation. Christian Koch (3-4) made eight saves in the loss to the Mocs. The senior has recorded 56 saves in seven starts while allowing 11.95 goals per game. Saint Leo is coming off a 12-10 loss to Rollins in both teams’ SSC opener last Saturday. The Lions were riding a six-game win streak before the defeat to the Tars. SLU led 9-6 with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter but allowed Rollins to tally four-straight goals to take a 10-9 edge with 8:08 left in regulation. Dylan Yonts tied the game at the 7:00 mark but from there the Tars would score the final two goals to steal away the victory. Yonts paces the Lions with 50 points through the first nine games. He ranks first in the nation with 4.78 goals per game and second with 43 goals. His running mate on the attack, Jake Gilmour, ranks second in Division II in both assists (28) and assists per game (3.11). Dave Moore is in his fourth season starting in goal for the Lions. The senior has amassed 82 saves this year and ranks 11^th in the nation with an 8.01 goals against average and 14^th with a .550 save percentage. A key to FIT’s success in this game will be the battle at the faceoff dot. Travis Wunder and Ryan Land look to bounce back from their combined 8-for-20 performance last week as they take on Saint Leo’s Will Cothron, who ranks fourth in the nation in faceoff win percentage (.690) and ninth in total wins (129). The all-time series between Florida Tech and Saint Leo is tied at 2-2 with home teams boasting a 0-4 record. FIT earned the most recent victory last season, 13-11, on March 14, 2015. J.C. Meyerholz will have the call from Florida Tech Panther Stadium. Links to live coverage for all Panther home games can be accessed atwww.FloridaTechSports.com/live.   Live Coverage: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/fit/ 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