LAKELAND, Fla. – Playing in its first competition in 375 days, No. 21 Florida Tech dropped its season opener against No. 8 Florida Southern, 17-3, Saturday afternoon at the Barnett Athletic Complex.
Kailee O'Brien paced the Panthers with two goals and two draw controls and
Kylie Morris added the other goal for Tech.
Caroline MacLeod collected four draw controls while
Mollie Kaplan had three draw controls.
Olivia Going led the Crimson & Gray with five ground balls and one caused turnover.
Emily Harris finished with 10 saves and three ground balls in her first career start.
The Moccasins got on the board just 2:45 after the opening draw on a free position goal by Hailey Daleo, one of her game-high four goals on the day. O'Brien answered with her own free position tally less than a minute later to even the score at 1-1 with 16:20 left in the first half.
However, FSC took over momentum from there and proceeded to score 11 unanswered goals and carried a 12-1 advantage into halftime.
O'Brien made the margin 12-2 early in second half after beating her defender with a nifty spin dodge up top and burying her second goal of the day with 29:14 to go.
The Mocs responded with a 5-0 run to build their lead to 17-2 with 14:40 left in the second half. Morris bullied her way through the FSC defense to net the Panthers' third goal on a free position attempt with 5:27 remaining in the game.
FSC outshot Tech 41-16 in the game, including a 27-10 edge in shots on goal. The two teams were even in draw controls with 11 apiece. The Panthers went 1-4 on free position attempts and converted on 12-16 clears. Florida Southern went 3-8 on its free position opportunities and 17-18 on clear attempts.
Florida Tech will look to bounce back when the Panthers travel to Boca Raton for their first Sunshine State Conference game of the season against Lynn on Wednesday, March 24. The contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. at Bobby Campbell 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.
