WINTER PARK, Fla. (Women's Lacrosse) – No. 9 Florida Tech (12-2, 3-1 SSC) dominated the second half against Sunshine State Conference rival, No. 6 Rollins (12-4, 2-2 SSC) on Thursday night, outscoring the Tars 9-2 over the final 30 minutes to earn a 14-10 comeback victory on the road.
With the win, the Panthers clinched the 2-seed in next week's SSC Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The result will also certainly give Florida Tech a boost in the NCAA regional rankings as the Tars (No.4) sat one spot ahead of the Panthers (No. 5) in the South Region poll.
Sara Grenier led FIT with four goals on seven shots.
Allie Modica recorded three goals, an assist, three draw controls and two ground balls.
Caroline Dunleavy and
Lauren Tybor each tallied a hat trick in the victory.
Florida Tech finished with more shots, 25-18, and ground balls, 18-14. The Tars ended the matchup with more draw controls, 13-11.
Rollins jumped on the Panthers early on and led 5-1 with 20:45 left in the first half. Goals by Grenier and Modica cut the deficit to 5-3 with 10:17 remaining. However, the Tars outscored FIT 3-2 the rest of the half and took an 8-5 advantage into halftime.
After RC scored the opening goal of the second half to push its lead to 9-5, the Panthers started their surge. Dunleavy kicked off the run with a pair of goals 15 seconds apart to make it a 9-7 game.
Tybor and Grenier then scored to tie the game up at 9-9 with 13:04 remaining. Tybor struck again 14 seconds later to hand the Panthers their first lead of the game, but RC's Kallie German evened up the score at 10-10 just over a minute later.
However, FIT quickly responded with goals by Grenier, Modica and Tybor to push the advantage to 13-10 with 4:23 left on the clock. Modica's put the icing on the cake with her empty net goal with 18 seconds remaining as the Panthers earned their first ever victory over Rollins.
It's the Crimson & Gray's second win over a Top 10 team in the program's three-year history. The Panthers defeated No. 6 New Haven 11-10 in overtime during the 2016 season.
Florida Tech will have to brush this victory aside quickly as the Panthers will have to prepare for a rematch with the Tars in eight days when the two teams square off in the semifinals of the SSC Tournament on Friday, Mar. 28, in Lakeland, Fla. Stay tuned to FloridaTechSports.com for details on the time and live coverage of the semifinal matchup.
