The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team had their five-game winning streak snapped on Thursday, losing to Concordia-St. Paul 11-10 in double overtime at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. The Golden Bears are ranked 14th in the Nike/US Lacrosse poll.
Mary Keating broke a 10-10 tie that lasted through the first three-minute overtime, as she scored the game-winner with 1:50 left in the second overtime, giving the visitors the victory. It was her second goal of the night. CSP had four players with two goals each.
This game was as good as the score would indicate, as these teams were involved in a back-and-forth battle throughout the contest. Concordia-St. Paul ended the game with a 27-26 edge in shots, with the Keating goal being the difference. It was the Golden Bears 19th shot on goal, while the Panthers had 18.
Concordia-St. Paul (5-2) held a 15-9 advantage on draw controls while going 3-for-5 on free-position shots. The Panthers were just two out of nine. The Golden Bears were 16-for-17 on clears, and the Panthers were 15-for-17. Concordia turned the ball over 19 times, while the Panthers turned it over 14.
Chloe Zador got the start in goal for Florida Tech, against Katie Lottsfeldt. Both goalies stood tall, making eight saves.
Alexis Townsend led the Panthers with four goals and an assist. Madison Savje had two goals, while Kailee O’Brien, Mollie Kaplan, and Aleah Fjelstad each had a goal and an assist. Caroline Mcleod had the other Florida Tech goal.
Townsend got the Panthers going 1:05 into the game. She would score the second goal with 3:36 elapsed and it was 2-0. The Golden Bears scored back-to-back goals, tying it at two. They would take their first lead of the night on Sarah Pierson’s goal at the 9:20 mark, 3-2.
Townsend would answer with 19:27 left, scoring her hat trick goal and tying the game 3-3. Kaplan’s goal reinstated the Panthers lead at 4-3 and Savje got her first of the game with 4:06 to go in the first half, making it a 5-3 game. They would hold that lead as the horn sounded for halftime.
Concordia-St. Paul scored twice in the first 4:41 of the second half, including a free-position, man-down goal from Alina Boyce tying the game at 5.
Townsend would get her fourth and final goal of the night at the 6:54 mark, giving Florida Tech a 6-5 lead. Pierson would tie the game with 19:01 to go. Savje’s man-up goal would break the tie the game 4:04 later. After CSP tied it at seven, with 11:02 to go, it took O’Brien 3:03 to sever the tie again, giving the Panthers an 8-7 lead. Keating took just 19 seconds to tie the game again.
After Fjelstad gave the Panthers a 9-8 lead with 5:13 to go, Maddie Hentges would tie it again just over one minute later. She would then assist on the goal that gave Concordia St. Paul their first lead since there was 20:40 left in the first half. That lead goal was scored by Sara McNicoll.
Macleod would score the game-tying goal with 1:19 left, knotting the game 10-10. That is how regulation would end.
Each team had a good chance in the first overtime with O’Brien earning a free position shot with 46 seconds left and shot it just wide. Zador would make a point-blank save on Pierson with 23 seconds left, sending the game to a second overtime.
Pierson would win the draw to start the second overtime, and Keating scored her goal 1:10 into the period, giving the Golden Bears a big win, and giving the Panthers their first blemish of 2020.
For more info: Concordia-St. Paul @ Florida Tech Box Score
The Panthers (5-1) will host Kutztown on Saturday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m.