Alexis Townsend – Photo credit: Lou Marinacci – Pictures of Motion
The No. 11 Mercy Mavericks lived up to that ranking on Wednesday, beating the 25th-ranked Florida Tech Panthers 10-3 in a women’s lacrosse game at Florida Tech Panthers Stadium.
Mercy (4-1) suffered their first loss of the season this past Saturday, but bounced back in this one, thanks in large part to the goaltending of Madeline Garvalosa, who saved seven of the Panthers 10 shots on goal.
Alexis Townsend scored all three goals for the Panthers and now has 27 on the season. Aleah Fjelstad and Mollie Kaplan got the only two Panthers assists on the night.
The Panthers (6-2) have averaged 33 shots in their first seven games this year, on Wednesday, the Mavericks defense showed no mercy, holding Florida Tech to 14 total shots and forcing them into three shot-clock violations.
Madison Fields got the start in goal for the Panthers and made eight saves of the 18 the Mavericks put on goal. The visitors had 24 shots in total. She played well overall, but with the Panthers’ offensive struggles being the story of the night, it looks more lopsided on the scoresheet.
Katherine Sanchez scored four goals to lead the Mavericks, while Taylor Bishop scored three.
Sanchez scored the first goal of the game seven minutes in, and Bishop followed three-plus minutes later, making it 2-0. Townsend would get the Panthers on the board with 10:45 left, closing the gap to 2-1.
Sanchez would score twice in the span of 1:05 to make it 4-1. Bishop would make it 5-1 with Briana Corace expanding the deficit to five with 41.1 left in the first half and with that, the Mavericks took a 6-1 lead to the halftime break.
Townsend scored 55 seconds into the second half on a free-position shot, making it 6-2. Kaitlyn Grzelaczyk answered 1:56 later, making the Panthers deficit five again. A goal by Julianna Keenan made it 8-2 with 12:11 left.
Townsend’s hat trick goal came with 9:23 left in the game. Bishop and Sanchez then scored 47 seconds apart, giving the Mavericks the final two goals of the game. The two teams went scoreless in the last 5:25, as Mercy did well to kill most of the clock.
For more info: Mercy @ Florida Tech Box Score
Florida Tech plays host to Notre Dame College on Saturday, March 14. The Panthers will celebrate Senior Day prior to the 3:00 p.m. opening draw at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.