MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 9 Florida Tech (9-5, 6-1 SSC) was dealt a heartbreaking 16-13 loss by Sunshine State Conference rival No. 5 Saint Leo (13-1, 7-0 SSC) in both team's regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Panther Field.
The loss ends the Panthers' program-record eight game win streak, while the Lions clinched the SSC regular season title, becoming the first team other than Tampa to achieve the feat.
Logan Sweeney led the Panthers with three goals, while
Tyler Covey recorded four points on two goals and two assists.
Carson Clough and
Justin Williams each found the back of the net twice in the game.
In addition to tallying three points, on two goals and an assist,
Addison Abramson also paced FIT with five caused turnovers and eight ground balls.
Nathan Howard finished with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Lance Pavlina won 17-of-30 faceoffs and recorded 13 ground balls and one goal.
Daniel Flock made 12 saves in the Panthers' net.
Saint Leo jumped out to an early 2-0 edge after goals by Phillip Buque and Jack Spera. Abramson made the score 2-1 and then fed
Justin Williams a few minutes later on a fast break to tie the contest at 2-2 with 7:26 left in the first.
Over the next 9:05 of game time, the Lions outscored FIT, 4-1, to grab a 6-3 lead with 11:24 remaining in the second quarter.
However, Abramson's second goal kicked off a 3-0 run by the Panthers that tied the game up at 6-6 with 8:42 to go in the half. SLU countered with four unanswered goals over a 2:46 span to go ahead, 10-6, with over three minutes left in the second quarter.
Tajee Mobley, Covey and Clough each scored over the final 2:41 of the first half to send the Crimson & Gray into halftime trailing by just one, 10-9.
Williams blew by the Lions' defense and evened the contest at 10-10 just 20 seconds into the second half. Sweeney then handed FIT its first lead of the game with 12:43 left in the third.
Daniel Sparks' goal ignited a 4-0 run for SLU that gave the Lions a 14-11 advantage at 8:04 remaining in the fourth. Pavlina answered with his sixth goal of the season off the ensuing faceoff and then Clough cut the margin to one, 14-13, with 7:35 to go.
However, Jake Gilmour's third goal of the contest increased Saint Leo's edge to two goals with less than seven minutes remaining. The Lions would add one more with 33 seconds to go to seal the deal and ruin the Panthers' chances at their first conference regular season championship in program history.
As a result of the loss, Florida Tech will be the No. 2 seed in next week's SSC Men's Lacrosse Tournament hosted by Saint Leo on Apr. 26 and 28. The Panthers' opponent in the semifinals will be No. 3 seed Tampa, who FIT defeated 7-6 earlier this season.
Start time for the contest with the Spartans is yet to be announced by the conference office. Stay tuned to FloridaTechSports.com for updated information on next week's tournament.
