The Florida Tech Panthers women’s lacrosse team dropped a 20-6 decision to Florida Southern on Wednesday night, eliminating the Panthers from a chance at Sunshine State Conference Tournament play.
11th-ranked Florida Southern improved to 10-3, including 3-2 in the conference. They are now 14-0 overall against the Panthers and 11-0 in Lakeland. Florida Tech is now 8-5 overall and 1-5 in the conference. They have lost four in a row.
Jennifer Boyle led the Panthers with three goals and an assist. Kayla Minton had a goal and an assist, Rachel Johnson and Caroline Finn had a goal each.
Madison Tare had five goals and an assist to lead Florida Southern. Ellie Griffin, Hailey Daleo, and Abby McFerren all had a hat trick, while Marlee Moon Gaddy and Lizzy Lynch finished with two apiece.
Tare and Lynch got the Moccasins out to a 2-0 lead before Boyle and Minton scored consecutive goals to make it 2-2 with 11:29 left in the first. Gaddy scored followed by Johnson’s goal to tie it at three. That was as close as the Panthers would get.
Goals from McFerren and Daleo made it 6-3 and that was the end of the night for Panthers starting goalie Cailey Canessa. Kellen Lucchesi replaced her with 6:49 left in the first quarter. Tare would score her second of the night with 4:59 left and that had FSC in the lead 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. The Mocs scored on all seven shots they took in the quarter.
Boyle scored 2:14 into the second quarter to make it a 7-4 game. The Mocs would go on to score the next six goals to end the half with a 13-4 lead at the half. Tare had three of those goals and had all five of her tallies in the bank at the break.
Patricia Werker took over in goal for Florida Southern starter Brittany Iamele to start the second half. Iamele made six saves.
McFerren’s hat trick goal came 55 seconds into the third quarter and triggered the running clock. FSC would score four more goals in the quarter, capped by Daleo’s woman-up goal with less than two seconds left in the quarter. It was 18-4 Florida Southern heading into the final 15 minutes.
Boyle’s hat trick goal was the first of the fourth quarter and broke a run of 11 straight goals by the Moccasins, making it 18-5 with 8:21 remaining in the game.
Goals by Katie Yeagle and Samantha O’Neill came against Panthers netminder Emily Harris, who started the final stanza. That made it 20-5 before Caroline Finn put one home for the Panthers with under seven seconds left.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Florida Southern Box Score
Florida Southern held a 28-23 advantage in shots, including 23-15 in shots on goal. Florida Southern won 15 of the 26 draw controls and was 18-for-21 on clears. The Panthers were successful on 12-of-13 clears.
The Mocs were 7-of-8 on free-position chances, while the Panthers were 1-for-3.
The Panthers will play the final game of their 2022 season on Saturday, with a home game against No. 10 Rollins. The opening draw is set for 1:00 p.m. at Florida Tech Panther Stadium.