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No. 11 Panthers Fall to No. 12 Rollins in Back-and-Forth Affair

A matchup between two Top-15 teams lived up to the billing Saturday, as Rollins took down Florida Tech (10-5, 5-2 SSC) 17-15 in a Sunshine State Conference men’s lacrosse matchup in Winter Park.

Zach Rozgonyi continued to build on his historic single-season goal record as he led the Panthers with a six-point day, picking up a hat trick to go along with three assists. Justin Williams and Bennett Duffy each had a hat trick, with Williams adding an assist.

Nate Deplancke and Collin Stewart had two goals each, while Sam Sidari and Chandler Hake each tallied a single marker. Sidari also added a helper.
Rollins (12-2, 5-2 SSC) was led by Marshall Ellison’s four goals, with Jack Johnstone and Bailey Pringle each registering a hat trick. Justin White and Finn Jent each finished with two goals, closing out the multi-goal scorers for the Tars.
Rozgonyi got the Panthers started with a goal 47 seconds in and Stewart made it 2-0. Johnstone got the home team started before a goal by Sidari gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead with 4:52 left in the quarter. Ellison got his first of the day 31 seconds later and made it 3-2. Johnstone’s second of the day came off a feed from Pringle and it was 3-3.
Duffy scored twice in 34 seconds to put the Panthers up 5-3 before Rozgonyi doubled the Panthers’ lead with 18 seconds left in the quarter.
Ellison, Johnstone, White, and Pringle scored the first four goals of the second quarter, putting the Tars up 7-6 with 10:03 left in the half. The teams traded the next four goals before White struck again with 2:51 left in the half, to give Rollins a 10-8 lead.
Rozgonyi’s hat trick goal came 2:14 into the third and cut Rollins lead to 10-9. The Tars answered with a three-goal run with tallies from Ellison, Connor Coltharp, and Pringle extending the lead to 13-9.
Williams scored two of the next three goals for the Panthers and the game went into the fourth quarter with the Panthers down 14-11.
Williams closed the gap with his hat trick goal 1:28 into the fourth and Hake made it a one-goal game, as he scored on the man-up. Jent scored at the halfway mark of the period before Duffy got his hat trick, to cut the home team’s lead to 15-14.
Deplancke’s second of the day came with 4:32 left and tied the game at 15 but goals from Zane Williams and Pringle closed the scoring.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Rollins Box Score
Rollins outshot the Panthers 44-37 including a 28-21 in shots on goal. Panthers goalie John Hulsman was credited with 11 saves, while Rollins starter Patrick Thomas finished with six. The Tars won 19 faceoffs to the Panthers 15 and were 15-for-18 on clears. Florida Tech was 17-for-21.
The Panthers will now look ahead to the Sunshine State Conference Tournament that will begin on Thursday, April 28. A third meeting with No. 1 Tampa (16-0, 7-0 SSC) is on the docket with the opening faceoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.