MELBOURNE, Fla. – Mason Ostrowski scored with six seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Florida Tech men's lacrosse team (4-4) to an 11-10 victory over No. 10 Mount Olive (8-3) on Saturday at Panther Field.
The win is the Crimson and Gray's second straight over a Top-10 team this week, as the Panthers defeated No. 5 Tampa, 7-6, in their Sunshine State Conference opener on Wednesday.
Ostrowski had a breakout game for FIT, recording a career-high six points on three goals and three assists.
Carson Clough netted a hat trick and
Reid Chaconas scored a pair of goals.
Tajee Mobley also had a strong outing with one goal and one assist.
Daniel Flock led the Panthers' defensive effort with 12 saves in goal.
David Welsh finished with three caused turnovers and three ground balls and
Addison Abramson collected six ground balls to go along with an assist.
Florida Tech's domination at the face-off x was the difference as the Panthers won 18-of-24 draws against the Trojans.
Ryan Land went 16-of-19 on his attempts, while picking up seven ground balls.
Matt Weinstein kicked off the scoring for FIT with an unassisted goal with 7:17 to go in the first quarter. The Panthers added to their lead less than two minutes later on
Tommy Bowser's first goal of the season. Ostrowski then pushed the advantage to 3-0 with 3:58 left in the opening frame.
Consecutive scores by UMO, from Austin Whitlow and Tyler Keele, cut the Panthers' lead to 3-2 heading into the second quarter. Two straight goals by Clough increased FIT's edge to 5-2 but the Trojans answered with their own 2-0 run to make it a one goal game again, 5-4, with 10:25 remaining in the half.
With the Panthers leading by two in the final seconds of the first half, UMO's Jacob Ball scored an unassisted goal from the left wing to make it 7-6 at halftime.
Brody Sullivan tied the game at 7-7 for the Trojans off an assist by Gunner Parson. Chaconas gave FIT an 8-7 edge with 4:45 to go in the third but Sullivan struck again for UMO to even the score at 8-8 with just over two minutes left in the period.
Goals by Clough and Chaconas handed the Panthers a 10-8 lead with 8:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Mount Olive fought back and tied the game up at 10-10 on a pair of goals by Thatcher Clark, the final coming with 28 seconds to go.
With time winding down in regulation, Abramson picked off a UMO clear attempt with just under 10 seconds remaining and fed Ostrowski who finished it in the back of the net for the eventual game-winner.
Florida Tech is back in action on Saturday, Mar. 31, traveling to Winter Park, Florida for a SSC road matchup against Rollins College. Opening face-off is set for 1 p.m. at Barker Family Stadium. Fans can access links to live coverage of the matchup at FloridaTechSports.com.