FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – A combination of explosive offense and dominant defense propelled Florida Tech to its fourth straight win to start the season as the Panthers cruised past Emmanuel College 22-2 on the road Sunday.
Alexis Townsend led the Panthers with eight points on five goals and three assists. Her eight points were not only the seventh-highest single-game point total in program history but they also pushed the senior attacker beyond the 100-career point mark. She becomes the ninth player in program history to achieve the feat and now sits at 104 career points on 67 goals and 37 assists.
Mollie Kaplan, who recorded her 100th point in Tech's previous game on Friday, finished with four goals and an assist to go along with five draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover.
Madison Savje registered her first career hat trick in the victory while Kyle Morris added a goal and two assists.
Kailee O'Brien finished with a goal, two assists and a game-high six draw controls.
Morgan Leonard,
Maile Haire, and
Aleah Fjelstad each scored two goals, and
Madison Ulvenes recorded one goal, one ground ball and one draw control.
Senior defender
Olivia Going did a little bit of everything for the Panthers, scoring her first career goal while also picking up a game-high six ground balls, two caused turnovers and a draw control.
Ashley Walter collected three ground balls and a caused turnover while
Zoey Kipp ended with one ground ball, one caused turnover and one draw control.
Chloe Zador got the start in the Panthers' net, recording fourth saves and her first win of the season.
The Florida Tech offense was firing on all cylinders in the game finishing with 43 shots, the sixth-highest shot total in a game in program history. The Panther defense was also locked in and limited the Lions attack to just eight shots in the game.
Additionally, the Panthers went 13-of-13 on clears and had just 11 turnovers compared to 21 for EC. Tech also collected more ground balls (19-10), draw controls (17-8) and caused turnovers (7-2).
Kaplan and Townsend kicked off the scoring for Tech to put the Panthers up 2-0 with 27:38 left in the first half.
The Lions trimmed the deficit to one with 24 minutes to go in the first half. Tech answered with nine unanswered goals and grabbed an 11-1 advantage with 9:48 remaining after Haire's second goal of the game.
EC tallied its second and final goal with 6:55 left in the half to make the score 11-2 for the Panthers. Haire, Savje and Fjelstad each found the back of the net before halftime and Florida Tech carried a 14-2 lead into the break.
The Panthers kept it rolling after halftime as Savje completed her hat trick off an assist from Kaplan to push the lead to 15-2 just 39 seconds into the second half. Going then netted her first career goal to increase the margin to 14 with 23 minutes remaining.
The Panthers scored six more times before the final buzzer and walked away with their fourth road win of the season.
After four consecutive road games to start the 2020 campaign, Florida Tech is excited for its home opener this Tuesday, March 3 but the Panthers will have a tough task on their hands in No. 6 Regis. The matchup between the Panthers and Rangers will begin at 7 p.m. at Panther Stadium.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech women'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.
