MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 5 Florida Tech dropped a 15-11 decision in its Top-5 showdown with defending SSC Champion and national runner-up, No. 1 Florida Southern on Saturday afternoon at Panther Stadium. The contest was the Sunshine State Conference opener for both teams. 
 
It was the Panthers' first loss this season as they fall to 0-7 all-time against the Moccasins. The defeat also puts a halt to Florida Tech's 15-game home winning streak.
 
Sara Grenier led all players with four goals, while Caroline Dunleavy paced FIT with five points on three goals and two assists in addition to four ground balls.
 
Sam Schiano finished with a goal to go along with five ground balls and four caused turnovers. Lauren Tybor dished out an assist and recorded seven draw controls, four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
 
Stephanie Stuart was the star for FIT against the Mocs, as the senior goalkeeper made a career-high 18 saves, including a number of stops right on the doorstep.
 
Florida Southern finished the contest with more ground balls, 39-25, and draw controls, 18-8, while both teams ended with 32 ground balls.

Shannon Gilfedder scored 32 seconds after the opening draw to give FSC a 1-0 lead. Dunleavy tied the game just over a minute later but Gilfedder answered with two more goals to complete her early hat trick and hand her team a 3-1 edge. A score by Marina Jozokos pushed the Mocs' lead to 4-1 with 19:43 left in the first half. 

The Panthers clawed their way back with three of the next four goals, including two by Dunleavy, to cut the margin to 5-4 with 11:08 to go in the frame. However, a man-up free position goal by Santoli kicked off a 6-2 run that gave FSC an 11-6 lead heading into halftime.

Florida Tech opened the second half with a 3-0 spurt, all on goals by Grenier, to cut the deficit to 11-9 with 23:20 to go. The Mocs responded with consecutive tallies to increase their advantage back to four.

It looked as though FIT would get back into it when Gormley trimmed the margin to 13-10 off an assist from Dunleavy with 7:26 left. However, Shannon Mazza returned FSC's lead to four, 14-10 less than two minutes later.

Alexis Townsend would find the net on a free position attempt with 2:35 remaining but the Panthers were unable to mount another offensive strike. From there, the Mocs ran out the rest of the clock and FIT fell by a four-goal margin. 

Florida Tech will look to bounce back from its first defeat as the Panthers host Colorado State-Pueblo on Friday, Mar. 30, at 7 p.m. at Panther Stadium. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com/live.