| Keira McCarthy – Photo credit: James Ragan Photography |
Keira McCarthy scored the only goal of the game Wednesday, giving her team a very important 1-0 win over Rollins in a Sunshine State Conference women’s soccer match at Rick Stottler Field.
The Panthers dominated statistically, but Rollins goalie Kelly Rowswell kept her team in the game, making eight saves. The one save she couldn’t make was off the foot of McCarthy, who didn’t get all of the ball, but enough to just have it trickle over the goal line, with 20:12 to go in regulation. Brie Heitz was given the assist on the goal.
With the victory, the Panthers improve to 7-6-2 overall and move to .500 in the conference with a 4-4-1 record. They are now back in contention for a spot in the Sunshine State Conference tournament, which starts next Tuesday.
Florida Tech took 12 shots in a scoreless first half, with five of them saved by Rowswell. On the other side, Florida Tech goalie Karlyn Prisco came up with three saves. Rollins took just five shots on the first 45 minutes.
The second half was more of the same for the home team, as they kept Rowswell busy, as she had to make three more saves. Florida Tech took 22 shots in all, nine of them were on goal. The Tars finished with 12, five of them were saved by Prisco, who notched her sixth shutout of the season.
Rollins (4-9-2, 3-5-2 SSC) came into the game having scored just seven goals all season and Prisco made sure that they did not improve on that.
Maria Munoz has not scored of late, but she continues to get her chances. She took nine shots Wednesday, with one on goal. McCarthy took four shots, three were on goal and one of those was the only one that mattered. Kelly Johnson and Elin Svensson had two shots on goal.
With the victory, the Panthers moved up to sixth place in the Sunshine State Conference Standings. That is good enough right now for the final spot in the SSC tournament. Tampa is 7-5-2 overall, but they are 4-4-1 in the conference as well, by virtue of their scoreless tie with Saint Leo on Wednesday. With that, Tampa and Florida Tech have 13 points each.
For more info: Rollins @ Florida Tech Box Score
The Panthers will finish the regular season on Friday, at Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sailfish will enter the game with a record of 2-9-1, They lost to Embry-Riddle Wednesday night, 2-1. Friday’s regular-season finale is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start.
This blog is an extension of our website – Sportslowdown.com Follow us on Twitter @sports_lowdown