GAFFNEY, S.C. – No. 10 Florida Tech was unable to overcome a five-goal halftime deficit to No. 11 Limestone on Sunday, and the Panthers fell to the Saints, 13-9, in a Top-15 showdown at Saints Field.

The Saints jumped out to a 4-0 lead with 21:14 to go in the first half. Tech finally got onto the board with 18:01 remaining in the half when Alexis Townsend found Sam Schiano right on the doorstep for the goal.

Two more quick LC goals pushed the Saints' lead to 6-1 at the 14:02 mark. Leah Dunn cut the margin to four on a free position shot with 13:18 left before halftime.

Later in the half, Townsend netted her own free position goal to make the score 6-3 with 5:35 to go. The Saint added two more tallies before the end of the half and took an 8-3 advantage into the break.

After Limestone scored again to open the second half, the Panthers netted five of the next six goals to close the gap to 10-8 with 13:24 left. Tech received goes from five different players during the run.

The Saints answered with three consecutive goals over a three-minute span and the Panthers trailed by five again with 9:43 remaining. Schiano muscled her way through several Limestone defenders and scored her third of the game to make the score 13-9 with 4:51 still on the clock.

However, the Panthers couldn't get any closer the rest of the contest and Limestone held on for the four-goal victory.

Schiano led Tech with three goals, five draw controls, and two ground balls. Dunn tallied two goals. Alexis Townsend finished with a goal, two assists and three ground balls. Mollie Kaplan recorded a goal, four draw controls and three ground balls.

Kailee O'Brien added a goal and four ground balls and Jenna Katrina contributed four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Chloe Zador made seven saves in goal for the Panthers.

Overall, final stats were fairly even between Tech and Limestone. Both teams finished with 26 shots, nine free position shots and 20 shots on goal. The Saints held the edge in ground balls (21-20) and draw controls (13-11). The Panthers went 12-of-16 on clear and LC was successful on 18-of-19 attempts.

Florida Tech hosts No. 2 Adelphi in its home opener on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at Panther Stadium.

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