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Chaconas Hits Another Milestone in Loss to Tampa

Photo: Reid ChaconasCredit: Lou Marinacci – Pictures of Motion

Florida Tech Men’s lacrosse took the field Saturday night for the first time since an April 6 win over Florida Southern. On that night, senior Reid Chaconas set the all-time goal mark in Florida Tech history. Saturday he broke the 100-goal plateau in a 14-9 loss at Tampa.

Chaconas came into the game with 97 goals and tallied four times against the undefeated Spartans. Zach Rozgonyi and Luke Jayne each had two goals for the Panthers and Justin Williams had a goal and an assist. Ben French led Tampa with three goals.

Things looked good for the Panthers at the start with goals from Williams and Jayne 1:09 apart to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Tampa answered swiftly against Panthers goalie Vincent Palermo scoring four unanswered goals, including two from Jack Wood. He assisted on one as well.

Rozgonyi got the Panthers to within one as he swept in and picked up a loose ball, rifling it past Tampa goalie Blake Ulmer to make it 4-3 with 4:22 to go in the quarter. Another Tampa goal made it 5-3 at the end of the opening Stanza but the Spartans got consecutive one-minute penalties before the quarter expired, giving the Panthers a two-man advantage to start the second quarter.

It took 20 seconds for Chaconas to take advantage and just like that, it was a 5-4 game. Jayne would tie the game with a goal, coming with 12:44 remaining. It was a short-lived tie with Tampa’s Owen Miller scoring twice in 2:36, giving the Spartans a 7-5 advantage.

Rozgonyi would score the final goal of the first half with 6:30 to go, making it a one-goal game. Chaconas opened the third quarter the same way he opened the second, scoring 5:07 into the quarter, tying the game at seven.

After two goals by Tampa made it 9-7, Chaconas struck again with 5:11 to go in the quarter closing the gap to one once more.

That was as close as the Panthers would get as French and Richie Holle scored late in the third, stretching Tampas lead to 11-8 heading into the fourth quarter.

Chaconas did it again in the fourth, opening the quarter with a goal, and cutting the deficit to 11-9 with 10:02 left. Tampa would then go on a three-goal run in the final 9:02 to secure the victory and keep their undefeated record intact.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Tampa Box Score 

Palermo made 16 saves in the loss, while Ulmer made 13. Tampa led in shots 44-36, ground balls 36-27, and held a 16-9 advantage on face-offs.  The Spartans went 18-for-18 on clears, with Florida Tech converting 20-of-23.

The Panthers (2-4, 1-3) will play at Rollins on Friday, May 7 at 1:00 p.m. They return home the following day to host Saint Leo in the season finale at 1:00 p.m.