Header pic: Zach Rozgonyi – Florida Tech Athletics
After a heartbreaking one-goal loss in their opener against Rollins last week, Florida Tech rebounded in a big way taking down #17 Belmont Abbey on the road, 13-12.
John Hulsman got the start in goal for Florida Tech and had 11 saves on the day, including five in the first quarter. Thomas Sullivan made nine saves for the home team.
Zach Rozgonyi led Florida Tech with four goals and an assist on the day and Collin Stewart had three goals and an assist, including the game-winning marker with 3:12 left in overtime. Griffin Bowie added two goals and an assist, while Chandler Hake and Ben Claffee added single tallies.
Rozgonyi took a Justin Williams feed to the cage for the game’s first goal, putting the Panthers up 1-0, 2:04 in. It took 11 seconds for the Crusaders to answer off the stick of Matthew Wyatt, his first of two on the day.
Connor Toomey would give Belmont Abbey a 2-1 lead but Stewart would answer 4:04 later, tying the game at two. The defenses took over, with no scoring in the final 7:44 of the first quarter.
The Panthers went on the man-up less than three minutes into the second and they capitalized, as Hake took just 18 seconds of penalty time to beat Sullivan and give Tech a 3-2 lead. Bowie and Rozgonyi made it 5-2 with 10:48 left before the Crusaders ripped off three of their own in the span of eight minutes, tying things at five.
Jakob Terpak scored with 1:02 left in the quarter to put the Panthers up one and Belmont Abbey got a shot off at the end of the quarter that they thought beat Hulsman and the buzzer, but after a discussion, it was ruled that the shot went in after the buzzer and the Panthers went to the locker room with a 6-5 lead.
After two goals by the Crusaders gave them a 7-6 lead, it was Rozgonyi on the scene again to tie things at seven with 10:10 left in the quarter. Each team added a goal in the next three minutes, and it was 8-8.
Rozgonyi and Claffee (man-up) would give the Panthers a 10-8 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Bowie would score to put the Panthers up 11-8 1:02 into the fourth. Austin Hasen scored to cut it to two. Hasen would get another chance on the next possession but was denied by Hulsman. Noah Haas would score on the man-up a short time later and it was an 11-10 game. Michael Canavan would tie things up at 11 with 4:49 left before Hasen completed a four-goal run by the Crusaders that put them up 12-11 with 2:28 left.
That lead held until Terpak tied the game with 43 seconds left in regulation.
In overtime, Ethan Tosheff won the faceoff and it took 48 seconds for Stewart to beat Sullivan and send the Panthers off with a 13-12 victory, evening their record at 1-1.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Belmont Abbey Box Score
The Panthers outshot Belmont Abbey 46-36 and forced 19 turnovers. They were successful on 24 of 26 clears and held a 36-25 advantage on ground balls. The Crusaders won 14 of 26 faceoffs.
The Panthers have another tough test on Monday, as they will battle No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne on the road in Hickory, N.C. Faceoff is set for noon