MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Tech had its season come to an end Saturday afternoon with an 11-8 loss to Florida Southern on Senior Day at Panther Field.
Reid Chaconas led Tech with a hat trick while five other Panthers recorded one goal in the game.
Brett Pohlmeyer posted a goal and five ground balls.
Jake Berger guided the defense with three caused turnovers.
Ryan Land won 12-of-21 face-offs in the game.
Daniel Flock had a terrific game in what turned out to be the final of his career. The goaltender ended with 18 saves including eight in the fourth quarter alone.
The Mocs got onto the board first just 2:32 into the contest. The Panthers answered quickly with goals by Chaconas and Schillinger to take a 2-1 lead with 10:17 left in the first quarter.
FSC tied the game with 5:28 to go in the period and then grabbed a 3-2 edge following a tally by Carson Wallace. However, Chaconas evened the score at 3-3 with 11 seconds left in the opening frame on his team-leading 32nd goal of the season.
Tech was outscored 3-1 in the second, with
Luke Palmisano providing the lone goal of the quarter for his team, and the Panthers went into halftime trailing 6-4.
Following a sluggish start to the third quarter, Chaconas cut Florida Tech's deficit to one, 6-5, with 5:41 to go. The Mocs responded with a goal a few minutes later to push their lead back to two,
Justin Williams and
Logan Sweeney then got into the mix with back-to-back goals over a 53 seconds span to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Florida Southern opened the fourth with a pair of quick goals to increase its lead to 9-7 with 1149 left. Another tally by the Mocs later in the quarter made the score 10-7 with less than six minutes to go.
Brett Pohlmeyer trimmed the Panthers deficit to 10-8 when he beat his defender on the wing and scored on a dive shot with 2:45 to go in regulation. After cutting it to two, and because there was little time remaining, Florida Tech moved into a 10-man ride to try to get the ball back to the offense.
Tech had several chances to regain possession but the Mocs were able to break the ride and eventually add an insurance goal with just over a minute left to seal the deal for Florida Southern.
FSC ended the game with an advantage in shots (56-39), while Tech gathered the most ground balls (34-23).
With the 2019 season concluded, the Panthers will now change focus and begin preparing for the 2020 campaign.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech men's lacrosse team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
