Florida Tech women’s lacrosse won their sixth consecutive game on Monday, beating the Montevallo Falcons 13-7 at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.
This is the first time Tech has won their first six contests, since winning their first nine in 2018. They are currently ranked 18th in the latest Nike/USA Lacrosse poll.
Jennifer Boyle had four goals and an assist to lead the Panthers scoring on Monday with Kayla Minton (3g, 1 a), and Caroline MacLeod each finishing with a hat trick. Rachel Johnson had two goals and two assists, and Charlotte Hardie had a goal.
Anja Kuys, Lily McCormick, and Rylee Horton all had two goals for the Falcons, with Jenna Piazza scoring once.
Kuys got Montevallo on the board first, beating Panthers goalie Cailey Canessa, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead 1:56 in. One minute after Montevallo hit the post, Boyle answered with a free-position goal, trying the game with 9:46 left in the quarter.
Canessa would stop five shots in this one, picking up the win.
Falcons starting goaltender Miranda Laird made two saves in 1:30 and McCormick rewarded her at the other end, with a goal, giving Montevallo a 2-1 lead. The tying goal came off the stick of Johnson, who worked around three defenders for a great-looking goal with 59 seconds left in the opening quarter.
McCormick gave the Falcons a 3-2 lead 1:26 into the second quarter but the Panthers’ offense came alive after that, scoring seven consecutive goals. Minton scored a woman-down goal before Hardie took a pass from Boyle and buried it to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead with 10:20 left. It was the first lead of the night for the Panthers, one they would not relinquish.
Boyle would score 43 seconds later to make it 5-3 and MacLeod scored two consecutive goals to make it 7-3. A goal by Johnson with 15 seconds left in the half was followed by Minton’s 20th of the season with 0.2 seconds left, giving Florida Tech a 9-3 lead at the half.
Freshman attacker Carly Niro has done her share of scoring this year, but she deserves a lot of credit for the Panthers’ success in that second quarter as she harassed Laird getting in her space and causing her to turn the ball over on multiple occasions.
Laird played very well in the first half, making 10 saves. This game could have gotten out of hand without her. The same can be said for Rachel Rose, who replaced Laird to start the third quarter and was credited with 11 saves. Without the goaltending that those two women displayed, this game would have gotten to a running clock in a hurry.
Horton scored 52 seconds into the third to make it 9-4 before Boyle started a three-goal run for the Panthers with MacLeod and Minton scoring later in the quarter. All three Panthers got their hat trick goals in that stretch and it was 12-4 with 3:50 left.
Kuys scored off a deflection to make it 12-5 with 1:31 left in the third.
As she did in the third quarter, Horton would score 1:15 in, to halve the Panthers’ lead. Piazza scored with 9:39 left to make it 12-7 before Boyle capped the scoring with her fourth of the night with 2:49 left.
For more info: Montevallo @ Florida Tech Box Score
The Panthers finished this game with 21 caused turnovers to the Falcons nine. Florida Tech took 40 shots, 34 on goal. Montevallo had 16, 12 on goal. Florida Tech held a 15-7 advantage in draw controls and turned the ball over just 14 times to the Falcons 28.
Florida Tech will play their final non-conference game of the season on Monday, March 28 against the Shorter Hawks. The game is set for a noon draw in Rome, GA.