SAINT LEO, Fla. – Florida Tech men's lacrosse lost to Saint Leo 18-15 on Saturday afternoon on the road at University Turf Stadium. 

For the second straight game, the Crimson & Gray had no issue finding offensive production as 10 different players contributed to the goal total. Additionally, Tech outshot the Lions, 49-35, including 28-16 in the second half alone, while also finishing with an edge in shots on goal, 30-24.

Bennett Duffy paced the Panthers with four points on two goals and two assists. Chandler Hake tallied a hat trick and Andy Stump recorded two goals and an assist. Luke Palmisano added a goal, two assists and two ground balls while Justin Williams and Zach Rozgonyi finished with a goal and an assist, apiece. Cristian Torres notched a pair of goals in the game in addition to forcing a turnover. 
 
On the defensive side, Kyle Sergio collected a game-high five caused turnovers to go along with five ground balls. Josh Vetter totaled four caused turnovers and six ground balls. David Welsh added two caused turnovers and two ground balls. In total, Tech recorded 15 caused turnovers in the game compared to eight for the Lions. 
 
Ethan Tosheff (11-24) and Jack Maranto (5-11) combined to go 16-35 on face-offs with six ground balls in the game. 
 
The Panthers had two goalies see action in the contest with Vincent Palermo receiving the loss after allowing seven goals and making no saves in the first quarter. Jake Hahn came in relief and finished with six saves while playing the final three quarters of the game. 
 
"Our offense has put up enough goals to win both games, but we can't allow 18 goals and expect to beat anyone," said head coach Mark Penn. "Our goalie play has been subpar to this point and we are looking for one of those guys to step up and give this team a chance to win. It's really that simple. 
 
"Today we won almost every statistical category but let in too many goals. It's an area we can and will improve."

Florida Tech won the battle for ground balls, 46-35, and had less turnovers, 16-24, in the matchup. The Panthers also converted on 13-15 clear attempts in the game while the Lions were 17-22 on clears.  

Saint Leo jumped out to a 6-2 lead with 6:16 to go in the first quarter after scoring three straight goals over a 30-second span, including two quick tallies off face-off wins. The Panthers were able to close the quarter on a 3-1 run, which included goals by Stump and Duffy as well as a man-up tally by Patrick Stewart with 19 seconds left, to trim the margin to two.  
 
The teams exchanged goals in the second with the Lions finding the back of the net with 18 seconds to go to take a 10-7 edge into halftime. Nate Deplancke scored off an assist from Stump in the quarter and Duffy tacked on his second goal off a feed from Matt LeCompte. 
 
It took just 26 seconds for Reid Chaconas to open the second half scoring with his only goal of the day. Hake then scored just over a minute later off an assist from Palmisano to make it a one-goal game, 10-9, with 13:27 left in the third quarter. 
 
The Lions scored four of the final six goals of the third quarter and carried a 14-11 lead into the fourth. Palmisano and Stump provided the two Panther goals, both on unassisted efforts. 
 
Saint Leo was able to push its advantage to 16-11 with 11:09 to go in regulation but Torres scored shortly after off an assist from Williams to trim the margin back to four. With 4:29 remaining, Rozgonyi scored on a sneak from behind the net, and then Hake completed his hat trick less than a minute later with a man-up goal, making the score 17-14 with 3:40 remaining.
 
After the Lions increased their 18th goal to push their lead back to four, Williams fired in his lone goal of the game with 1:21 left off an assist from Palmisano. SLU won the ensuing face-off and ran out the remainder of the clock for its first win of the season. 
 
"We are struggling to find ourselves right now," Penn stated. "We've played good at times in most phases of the game, but we haven't put it all together at the same time yet. We have a lot to figure out. 
 
"We don't have time to dwell on this result. We will look at the film and start getting ready for Rollins. I know I have a lot of talent and heart on this team, and we've got an amazing group of coaches. We have to find our fight. We will get this turned around."
 
Florida Tech is back in action on Wednesday, March 31, hosting Rollins College at 4 p.m. at Panther Field. 
 
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