The 16th-ranked Florida Tech men’s lacrosse team continued their winning ways on Wednesday, taking down Sunshine State Conference foe, Lynn University 16-8. The victory was the fifth in a row for the Panthers and the third straight in the conference.
Reid Chaconas led the Panthers offense with five goals. Tajee Mobley, Luke Palmisano, and Tyler Covey each finished with two goals, while Logan Sweeney chipped in with a goal and two assists.
Daniel Flock had another great game between the pipes, with the fighting Knights taking 39 total shots and Flock making 14 saves. Lynn netminder Collin McClelland made 15 saves, giving up 16 goals to the high-powered Panthers offense.
Florida Tech (6-4, 3-0 SSC) got the best of Lynn on ground balls, 56-45 and they won 20-of-28 faceoffs. They were successful on 18-of-19 clears.
Mason Ostrowski and Sweeney got the Panthers offense off to a fast start, scoring goals 35 seconds apart. Just like that, 59 seconds into the game, the Panthers were up 2-0. Chaconas then scored back-to-back goals to make it 4-0, before Keegan Maxwell finally got the fighting Knights on the board, with 4:08 left in the first period.
Maxwell scored four of his teams’ eight goals and was the only multi-goal scorer for the Fighting Knights. He would score again with just over six seconds left to make it 4-2 before Palmisano scored what was originally a buzzer-beater, but the official time on the clock was two seconds. That gave the Panthers a 5-2 lead at the end of the first 15 minutes.
Lance Pavlina, who picked up 10 ground balls and was 20-of-22 at the faceoff X, made his presence known offensively, scoring seven seconds into the second period. Palmisano’s goal 38 seconds later, made it 7-2 in favor of the home team.
Covey, Mobley, and Chaconas continued the Panthers six-goal run and with 5:07 to go, it was 10-2 Panthers.
Lynn (7-4, 0-3 SSC) scored the final goal of the half off the stick of Drew Custance and got the first two of the third quarter from Maxwell and Nick McCabe, cutting the Panthers lead to 10-5 with 11:09 to go in the third.
Chaconas and Maxwell then traded goals, ending the third quarter with an 11-6 Panthers advantage.
The Panthers widened their lead with goals from Covey, Tyler Oblong and Mobley in the first 7:38 of the fourth period made it 14-6. Oblong’s goal was his first of the season.
The teams traded the final four goals of the game, with Justin Williams and Chaconas scoring for Florida Tech.
For more info: Lynn @ Florida Tech Box Score
Next up for the Panthers is conference opponent Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday. The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in West Palm Beach.