FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Women's Soccer) – A week after knocking off the No. 1 team in the nation, the Florida Tech women's soccer team struggled in their return to Sunshine State Conference action Wednesday, as the Panthers were vanquished 2-0 on the road at the hands of No. 20 Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale.
With the loss FIT drops to 2-4 in the SSC, including 0-3 on the road, while NSU improves to 4-0 in league play.
The Sharks' offense was firing on all cylinders early in the contest. Alexys Nowak opened the scoring when she connected on a Nichole Poppe cross in the second minute.
NSU struck again before
Dustin Smith's squad could mount an attack for an equalizer, this time with Poppe finding Bailey Corbin for the header in the seventh minute to increase the lead to two.
NSU controlled play in the first half and went into the break with a 10-4 edge in shots. The Panthers managed to pick up their play with seven shots in the second half, although not a single attempt found the back of the net behind Sharks' goalkeeper Ida Norstrom, who finished with five saves.
With the team's leading scorer,
Keira McCarthy, sidelined for the matchup with the Sharks,
Aubri Williamson played a bigger role in the offense, recording four shots, all on goal, in 86 minutes of action. After allowing the two early scores,
Karlyn Prisco composed herself in the Panthers' net and finished with six saves.
Florida Tech continues conference play Saturday as the Panthers welcome Florida Southern to Rick Stottler Field at 7 p.m. ET. Prior to kickoff, FIT will recognize its senior class in a pregame ceremony. Access live coverage of the action at www.FloridaTechSports.com/live.
