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Panther Women Play Rollins to Draw

The Florida Tech Panthers (5-2-5, 1-2-4 SSC) played the Rollins College Tars in a key women’s soccer tilt on Wednesday with the match ending in a scoreless draw after 90 minutes plus two overtime periods couldn’t decide a winner.

It is the fifth draw for the Panthers this season and their third straight scoreless match in Sunshine Conference play.

The Tars (6-4-2, 4-0-2 SSC) had a chance to vault into first place in the conference with a win, but Panthers goalie Maria Sanchez Recuero made sure they didn’t with spectacular play in net. She made six saves as the Tars outshot the Panthers 16-6 overall, putting six shots on goal.

Florida Tech had just three shots on goal with Rollins goalie Noel Miller coming up with a save in the first half, one in the second half and her final one coming in the second overtime.

There was a lot riding on this match for both teams. Despite beating No. Columbus State last week, the Panthers were left out of the Top 25 poll in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, likely due in large part to the scoreless tie against a Saint Leo team that came into last Saturday’s game with a losing record. 

The silver lining is that the Panthers were ranked 4th in the latest south region rankings that were released with the latest poll. Rollins came into Wednesday’s matchup ranked 10th in the South Region. It will be interesting to see what this result does for the Panthers, who do not play again until next Wednesday.

Each team had four shots at the end of the first half, with two on goal for Rollins and one for Florida Tech. Rollins had a good chance early in the second half (50th minute) with a 1-on-1 shot by Rollins Tayla Duffy, that Sanchez Recuero got a hand on and then dove on the ball.

Rollins kept the pressure on as they got another opportunity in the 75th minute when Bailey Tran, got Sanchez Recuero out of the net to make a play on the ball, it was risky but it worked as she scooped the ball up.

Sanchez Recuero would do it again with under four minutes left in regulation as she charged hard out of the net to boot one away from the Rollins offensive player. Duffy looked to have a great chance in the 103rd minute, but lost her footing with the net open and the Panthers were bailed out by a defender kicking it away from the net.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Rollins Box Score

The Panthers will look to break this trend of draws next Wednesday, October 27 when they host 16th-ranked Palm Beach Atlantic in a 7:00 p.m. conference match.