TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Tech was unable to get its offense going until very late in its SSC bout with rival Tampa Wednesday evening, allowing the Spartans to build a sizeable lead and hold on for a 14-9 win at Pepin Stadium.

Justin Williams led Tech with a hat trick and two ground balls. Brad Schillinger added two goals and an assist, while Tommy Bowser and Logan Sweeney recorded one goal and one assist apiece. Brett Pohlmeyer and Addison Abramson each scored a goal in the game.

Kyle Sergio guided the Panther defense with five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Abramson and Reid Chaconas picked up four and three ground balls, respectively. Dan Flock finished with another double-digit save performance, making 18 saves against the Spartans.

UT grabbed a 2-0 lead at the 7:00 mark of the first quarter following scores by Andrew Kew and Harry Kilkowski. Bowser made it 2-1 when he took advantage of a Tampa mistake and scored an empty net goal with 3:28 to go in the first.

Schillinger then tied the game at 2-2 with his own unassisted effort early in the second quarter. However, the Spartans responded with another goal by Kew which kicked off a 5-0 run that gave Tampa a 7-2 advantage.

Sweeney got into the mix with 3:22 left in the second quarter, finding the back of the net to end the run and cut the Panthers' deficit to four at halftime.

Two more scores by the Spartans' Bryan Wright and Colin White increased their team's lead to 9-3 with 8:30 remaining in the third quarter. Eighteen seconds later, Williams hit the twine for the first time in the game and trimmed the margin down to 9-4.

Consecutive goals by UT's Matt Vetter midway through the third ignited another run by the Spartans, which handed them a 14-4 lead with 5:41 to go in the fourth quarter.

Despite the game being out of hand, the Panthers refused to give up and were able to score the final five goals of the night.

Williams started the spree with consecutive man-up tallies, the second with 2:36 remaining. Pohlmeyer scored an unassisted goal with just over a minute left. Schillinger and Abramson found the net during the last 22 seconds of the contest to make it a five-goal game at the final whistle.

Tampa finished the matchup with an edge in shots (54-43), shots on goal (32-19), ground balls (43-26) and faceoff wins (20-6). Tech went 2-of-2 on man-up tries. The Panthers went 18-of-22 on clear attempts compared to 16-of-20 for Tampa.

Florida Tech is back in action on Wednesday, Apr. 3, as the Panthers head down I-95 to Boca Raton, Florida for a matchup with SSC foe Lynn. That contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. at Bobby Campbell Stadium.

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