SAINT LEO, Fla. - 5th-ranked Florida Tech (15-1, 5-1 SSC) concluded its regular season Saturday, defeating Sunshine State Conference foe Saint Leo (11-6, 2-4 SSC), 23-9, at University Turf Stadium.
The Panthers set a new program record with their 15th win of the season, besting the previous mark set last year when the team went 14-4. The victory also improved FIT to 5-0 record on the road this season. It's the first time in program history that the Crimson & Gray posted an undefeated road record.
Leah Dunn led Florida Tech with five goals, while
Sara Grenier scored four goals against the Lions.
Caroline Dunleavy paced all players with six points on three goals and three assists.
Mary Gormley and
Sam Schiano finished with four points apiece, while
Lauren Tybor and
Mollie Kaplan each tallied three points. Tybor also collected seven draw controls and a team-high four ground ball, while Schiano notched seven ground balls and joined
Haley Heggblod with two caused turnovers.
Tybor opened the scoring with a man-up free position goal just 3:27 into the contest. The Lions answered 24 seconds later to tie the game at one goal apiece.
Grenier got into the action next with consecutive unassisted scores to hand FIT a 3-1 edge and kick off a 9-1 run that pushed the Panthers ahead, 10-2, with 9:04 left in the first half.
Saint Leo responded with a 4-1 spree over a 1:38 span to trim the margin to 11-6.
Florida Tech answered with another major run, as the Panthers netted seven straight to take an 18-6 advantage with 23:13 remaining in the game. Grenier's fourth goal of the game occurred during the run. The tally was the senior's 60th of the campaign and tied her own program single-season record for goals in a season.
Katherine Larson's free position goal with 21:15 to go ended a more than 15-minute drought for SLU and made the score 18-7.
Goals by
Aleah Fjelstad,
Alexis Townsend and Schiano pushed the Panthers' lead to 21-7 at 14:54 to go in the game.
The teams split the final four goals of the game and FIT went on to lock up the No. 2 seed in the SSC Women's Lacrosse Tournament for the second year in a row.
Florida Tech is set to take on No. 3 seed Tampa in the semifinals of the tournament on Apr. 27. The Panthers defeated the Spartans 22-13 earlier this month, on Apr. 4, in Tampa.
Start time for the matchup with UT is yet to be announced by the conference office. Stay tuned to FloridaTechSports.com for updated information on next week's tournament.
