via press release  –  photo by Amanda Stratford Photography   Five-Goal Third Quarter Propels Bears Past Panthers MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Lacrosse) – Last season, Florida Tech knocked off 15th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne for the program’s first-ever victory over a Top 15 opponent. This season, however, the tables were turned as the Bears (1-2) came to Melbourne and upset the No. 14 Panthers (2-1) 13-10 Friday night. A five-goal third quarter by Lenoir-Rhyne was all the difference as FIT was unable to answer with enough scores in the final two frames. Logan Sweeney paced Florida Tech with four goals on five shots, while Brian Bacarella and Cody Martin added a goal and an assist apiece. Tyler Covey dished out two assists in the contest and four other Panthers scored once on the night. Mike Cherry led FIT defensively, collecting three caused turnovers and three groundballs. Martin got the Panthers on the board first in the game, beating his defender down the left wing and piercing the bottom left corner of the net. The Bears rattled off three straight scores, the third coming from the cross of Will Remsen to put LRU up 3-1 at the 12:56 mark of the second. On the ensuing faceoff, Addison Abramson snagged the loose ball and sprinted up field, firing a bouncer past Crompton to bring FIT within one. Bears’ speedy attackman Mike Hanlon raced by Tom Filipow from behind the cage and curled a shot by Christian Koch to give Lenoir-Rhyne a two-goal advantage, 4-2.  Florida Tech answered with consecutive goals from Sweeney and Austen Zugelter to tie it up at 4-4. Carson Sterling took advantage of a broken clear by FIT to score his first goal of the game, but Sweeney responded with another rocket off a feed by Brett Pohlmeyer with 1:25 to go to even the game at 5-5 as the teams went into the break. Early scores by the Bears to start the second half pushed them ahead 7-5 with 13:53 still left in the third. Charlie Morrisette tried to stop the run with his unassisted score at the 7:17 mark. However, LRU rattled off three scores in less than a minute, the final coming on a man-up try by Sterling to hand his team a 10-6 edge heading into the fourth quarter. It looked as though FIT was going to get back into the contest with consecutive goals by Sweeney and Jason Terry to begin the period, but Lenoir-Rhyne answered with three unanswered to go up for good 13-8 with 9:09 remaining. The Panthers were able to cut it to three after Bacarella’s tally with 1:21 left on the clock, yet it was too little too late as Florida Tech was handed its first loss of the 2016 season. Sterling led Lenoir-Rhyne with four points on two goals and two assists, while Hanlon netted a hat trick on six shots. Joe Buduo found the back of the net twice in the contest and Ben Corrigan added a goal and an assist. Four Bears finished with one goal in the win. Collin Lett was an absolute monster for Lenoir-Rhyne. The long stick middie notched one goal, one assist, four groundballs and a game-high five caused turnovers. Shots became more even towards the end of the game, finishing 41-36, but the Bears held a 25-13 advantage in that department in the first half. Groundballs went the way of LRU as well, 32-25. Travis Wunder struggled to find a rhythm at the X, going 10-for-22. The Bears won by a slight margin in the game, controlling 14-of-26 faceoffs, including 6-of-7 in the third quarter to help LRU break the game open. Koch earned his first start of the season in goal for the Panthers, recording 13 saves in the losing effort. Crompton finished with 10 saves to earn his first victory. The Panthers are back at it Sunday as they host a Mars Hill (0-3) squad that is coming off a 12-6 loss to Florida Southern tonight. FSC led 9-1 at the half and 11-2 after three quarters. Nathan Stewart recorded a hat trick, while three other Lions added one goal apiece in the loss. Ryan Kearney made 17 saves in goal for Mars Hill. The matchup between the Panthers and Lions will be the second game of a Florida Tech lacrosse doubleheader on Sunday at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. The women’s lacrosse team opens with a scrimmage against Division III Neumann at 10 a.m. ET. Following that contest, the men take the field for their bout with Mars Hill at 2 p.m. This will be the second meeting between Florida Tech and Mars Hill with the Lions coming away with a 17-3 victory over the Panthers on Feb. 19, 2012 in Mars Hill, North Carolina.   Box Score: http://www.floridatechsports.com/mlacrosse/boxscore/2015-16/5410/lenoir-rhyne-vs-florida-tech-02-26-2016/ 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