LAKELAND, Fla. – Logan Sweeney's goal with 10.2 remaining in regulation gave No. 15 Florida Tech (9-4, 6-0 SSC) a 15-14 victory over Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern (7-7, 2-4 SSC) Saturday afternoon at the Barnett Athletic Complex.
The win is the Panthers' eighth in a row, which is a new school record. Florida Tech also becomes the first team in SSC men's lacrosse history to win six regular season conference games in a single season.
Sweeney paced the Crimson & Gray with a game-high five points on four goals and an assist. It's the junior's fourth career game scoring at least four goals.
Carson Clough recorded two goals and two assists.
Lance Pavlina and
Reid Chaconas each scored two goals and
Tyler Covey tallied a goal and an assist.
Addison Abramson led FIT defensively with three caused turnovers and five ground balls.
Daniel Flock made 15 saves against the Moccasins, giving him eight games with double-digit stops this season. Pavlina won 19-of-32 faceoffs to go along with a game-high 12 ground balls.
FSC finished with more shots, 43-37, while both teams collected 31 ground balls.
The Panthers got off to a fast start and led 2-0 just 2:18 into the game after a pair of unassisted goals by Chaconas and Sweeney.
FSC answered with three straight goals over a 3:03 span and grabbed a 3-2 lead with 8:51 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing faceoff, Pavlina won the draw and scored on the Mocs' goalkeeper to tie the game up at 3-3.
A 4-1 run by Florida Southern, capped by Lucas Claude's third goal of the first quarter, gave the home team a 7-4 advantage with 1:14 left in the period.
With less than a minute remaining in the high-scoring opening quarter, Clough found Ostrowski for his only goal of the game, cutting the Mocs' lead to 7-5 with 17 seconds to go.
Florida Tech dominated the second quarter against FSC. Clough scored consecutive goals to open the frame and knotted the game up at 7-7 with 9:47 to go before halftime. Sweeney then found the back of the net 29 seconds later to give FIT an 8-7 advantage.
The Panthers outscored the Mocs, 3-1, the rest of the quarter, on goals by Ostrowski,
Matt Weinstein and
Justin Williams, and carried an 11-8 lead into halftime.
Liam Winwood netted consecutive goals to open the third frame and trimmed the Panthers' lead to a single goal, 11-10.
However, Pavlina again answered on the ensuing faceoff to score his second of the day, and fifth of the season. Covey then scored off an assist from Sweeney to hand FIT a three-goal lead with 3:59 left in the third quarter.
The Mocs netted three straight goals to open the fourth quarter and tie the game at 13-13 with 10:58 remaining. Chaconas' second of the game gave the Panthers a one-goal edge with 6:40 to go, but it was short-lived as FSC scored 45 seconds later on an unassisted effort by Alex Dagen to tie the game at 14-14.
In the final minute, Sweeney drove his defender down the right wing and then rolled towards center field where he released a lefty bouncer that snuck in under the top right corner for the eventual game-winner with 10.2 seconds remaining.
The Panthers have now won two in a row, and three of the last four, in the series with Florida Southern.
Florida Tech has a chance to clinch home field advantage in the SSC Tournament for the first time in program history when the Panthers host No. 6 Saint Leo (11-1, 5-0 SSC) in their regular season finale and senior day game next Saturday, Apr. 21, at Panther Field. Start time for the matchup is 12 p.m. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com/live.
