MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 6 Florida Tech (6-0) needed all the scoring it could get on a cold and windy Wednesday night against a talented Young Harris (5-2) squad, as the Panthers defeated the Mountain Lions in a shootout, 20-15, at Panther Stadium.
 
Caroline Dunleavy led the Panthers with eight points on four goals and four assists. The senior's goal with 13:50 to go in the second half elevated her to the program's 200-point club. She joins teammate Sara Grenier, who finished with five goals and an assist on Wednesday, as the only players in program history to record 200 points in their careers. Grenier achieved the mark in the Panthers' victory over No. 13 Limestone earlier this season.

Sam Schiano registered four goals, six ground balls and six caused turnovers. Leah Dunn and Lauren Tybor each tallied two goals and an assist. Tybor also raked in six draw controls, four caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Haley Heggblod collected four ground balls and Brittney Embree ended with two caused turnovers. Stephanie Stuart made three saves and improved to 6-0 in the Panthers' net this season.

FIT finished with more shots, 26-23, and ground balls, 33-28, while Young Harris won more draws in the game, 21-15.

It did not take long for the Panthers to get on the board as Schiano knifed through the YHC defense and scored the opening goal just 43 seconds into the game. A free position tally by Mary Gormley gave FIT a 2-0 edge with 24:44 left in the first half.

After Nicole Kernohan scored to make it a 2-1 game Dunleavy got into the mix, converting a free position attempt and then feeding Tybor for a goal a moment later, helping FIT take a 4-1 lead with 19:49 remaining in the first period.

An unassisted goal by Mollie Kaplan made it a 6-3 margin but the Mountain Lions returned the favor shortly after with a free position goal by Kernohan with 8:40 left. A pair of scores by Schiano during the final moments of the first half gave FIT a 8-4 advantage a halftime.

The offenses exploded in the second half as the two teams combined for 23 goals in the stanza. 

Young Harris came out of the halftime break with three straight goals over a 47 second span, trimming its deficit to 8-7 with 28:05 to go. The Panthers regained their composure and responded with a 5-0, including two goals each by Dunn and Grenier, to increase their lead to six with just over 23 minutes remaining.

Kelsey Dover scored on a free position to make it 13-8 but the Crimson and Gray answered, again, with a 5-1 spurt, capped by Dunleavy's 200th point, to push their edge to 18-9 with less than 14 minutes to go.

YHC outscored the Panthers 6-1 over the next 12:37 to make it 19-15 with 1:52 remaining. However, Dunleavy's fourth goal sealed the game for FIT as the Panthers extend their home win streak to 12 games and earned their 16^th consecutive victory over a non-conference opponent.

Florida Tech concludes four-game spring break slate on Saturday, Mar. 10, hosting No. 19 Pace at noon at Panther Stadium. Fans can access live coverage of the Top-20 showdown at FloridaTechSports.com/live.