The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team used a 16-goal first half to beat the Saint Leo Lions in their final regular season game of 2018. Leah Dunn scored five goals to lead the Panthers, while Sara Grenier scored four and Caroline Dunleavy, along with Sam Schiano each ended the day with a hat-trick. Dunleavy added three assists, giving her a six-point night.
With the victory, the Panthers set new program standards for wins with 15 and conference wins with five. Their only loss of the season came to Florida Southern, back on March 24. They ended the season undefeated on the road with a record of 5-0.
Senior goalie Stephanie Stuart allowed six goals and made five saves in the first half. Chloe Zador, who will be the starter in net next season played the second half, allowing three goals and making two saves.
Florida Tech (15-1, 5-1 SSC) took 46 shots, 38 of them on goal. Saint Leo was held to 17 total shots. Saint Leo turned the ball over 18 times to 11 for FIT. The Panthers held a 24-23 edge in ground balls and were 14-of-15 on clears.
After Lauren Tybor opened the scoring, Leslie Ferguson tied it at one with 26:09 left. Two goals two minutes apart from Grenier gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead. After another tally from Ferguson made it 3-2 with 19:04 to go, the Panthers went on a seven-goal run including two from Dunn and two from Mary Gormley. Just like that, it was 10-2 with 9:04 to go in the half.
Delaney Chrisco scored off an assist from Ferguson and Ferguson followed that with her hat trick goal, making it 10-4 with 7:57 to go. For Ferguson, it was her 61st goal of the season and her final one for the game.
Dunn would score twice in a span of 39 seconds and after a goal by Grenier, her 60th of the season, Dunn would strike again with 3:42 to go in the half, giving the visiting Panthers a 15-6 lead. Dunleavy would score with 1:07 left, giving the Panthers a 10 goal advantage.
Dunleavy picked up right where she left off to start the second half, scoring 3:46 in, making it a 17-6 game. Alexis Townsend then got into the act, scoring two of the Panthers next four goals, with the second tally giving Florida Tech a 20-7 lead with 17:39 to go.
Schiano made it 21-7 moments later before Katherine Larson and Chrisco would score the final goals of the day for the Lions. Dunleavy and Mollie Kaplan scored the last two goals of the game, capping a big regular season.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Saint Leo Box Score
Florida Southern has won the Sunshine State regular season title and they will host the tournament next weekend. Florida Tech will meet Tampa on Friday in the SSC Tournament semifinal. Start time for that game has yet to be announced. Follow us on Twitter for more information @sports_lowdown.