MELBOURNE, Fla. – Florida Tech got off to a strong start in its SSC showdown with Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, as the Panthers scored seven first-quarter goals and then rode the offensive spurt to a 15-10 victory at Panther Field.
 
The win ends a two-game skid for the Panthers as they improve to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
 
Reid Chaconas recorded five goals for the second time this season in addition to picking up five ground balls. Brad Schillinger posted four goals and four ground balls, while Brett Pohlmeyer notched a hat trick. Matt Weinstein and Luke Palmisano each finished with a goal and an assist.
 
Jake Berger and David Welsh each produced four caused turnovers in the game. Daniel Flock made 10 saves in goal to improve to 6-3 on the season.
 
The Panthers utilized a committee approach to dominate the face-off x against the Sailfish. Tech won 22-of-2i9 face-offs on the day. Ryan Land went 10-of-14 on face-offs with seven ground ball. Ethan Tosehff won nine of his 10 attempts to go along with three ground balls, and David Demeter won 3-of-5 face-offs.
 
The Sailfish got on the board first with an unassisted goal by Zack Figura at the 12:46 mark. Schillinger tied it up at 1-1 just over a minute later but Kyle Savick handed PBA a 2-1 edge with 10:43 to go in the first quarter.
 
Consecutive goals by Chaconas less than a minute apart gave Tech a 3-2 edge with 9:27 left in the frame.
 
After Nick Whelan tied the game at 3-3 for PBA, Florida Tech went on a 4-0 run with goals by four different players. Palmisano kicked off the spree with a man-down goal. Chaconas then completed his first quarter hat trick before Schillinger and Pohlmeyer increased the Panthers' lead to 7-3 edge before heading to the second quarter.
 
Zach Holmes trimmed it down to a three-goal game, 7-4, after his score to open the second quarter for PBA. Weinstein and Pohlmeyer increased Tech's lead to 9-4 with 3:59 to go in the half.
 
The Sailfish tacked on two more goals over the final two minutes of the second quarter and Florida Tech took a 9-6 advantage into halftime.
 
Zack Figura cut the margin to 9-7 just 1:24 into the third quarter. Schillinger and Sam Sidari then scored to push the Panthers' lead back to four goals with 57 seconds left in the period.
 
Chaconas' fourth goal of the game made the score 12-7 less than a minute into the fourth quarter. PBA came back with consecutive tallies by Jackson Miller and Townsend Brown to trim the Panthers' edge to 12-9 with 10:46 remaining.
 
Tech would close the door from there with three consecutive unassisted goals by Schillinger, Chaconas and Pohlmeyer to put the game out of reach, 15-9, with 2:04 to go.
 
PBA received one more goal from Figura to make it a five-goal deficit with just over a minute left. The Panthers ran out the remainder of the clock and earned second SSC home win of the season.
 
Tech finished with an advantage in shots (58-27), ground balls (54-28) and face-off wins (22-7). The Panthers went 16-of-18 on clear attempts while PBA was successful on 21-of-24 tries. Both teams struggled on the man-up, going a combined 0-6.
 
Florida Tech continues SSC action on Wednesday, Apr. 10, as the Panthers travel to Daytona Beach for a matchup with Embry-Riddle at 7 p.m. at the ERAU Lacrosse Field.
 
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