WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Florida Tech women's lacrosse team nearly pulled off a tremendous upset but was unable to hold on as No. 10 Rollins escaped with a 7-6 overtime win on a rainy Wednesday night at Barker Family Stadium.
The Panthers led 6-4 with 10:12 remaining in the second half, but the Tars came back and forced overtime with a pair of goals over the final 8:54 of regulation. RC then scored 2:12 into the extra period to hand Tech its second overtime loss of the season.
Rachel Johnson led the Crimson & Gray with three goals and
Mollie Kaplan added two goals and one ground ball.
Alexis Townsend tallied a goal and an assist to go along with one caused turnover.
Caroline MacLeod finished with four draw controls, three ground balls and one caused turnover while
Kailee O'Brien collected three draws, one ground ball and one caused turnover.
Millie Hurt had two draw controls.
Ashley Walter grabbed three ground balls and one caused turnover and
Olivia Going ended with two ground balls and one caused turnover.
Emily Harris made six saves in the game.
Townsend gave Tech a 1-0 lead on an unassisted effort with 20:25 to go in the first half. Johnson scored her first of the game off an assist from Townsend to push the Panthers' lead to 2-0.
Following a Rollins goal, Johnson found the back of the net again to give the Crimson & Gray a 3-1 advantage with 12:31 remaining in the half. Kaplan then added a man-up goal less than two minutes later to put Tech up by three.
The Tars closed the half with consecutive goals to make the margin 4-3 at halftime.
Kaplan increased Florida Tech's lead to 5-3 on an unassisted goal with 22:13 left in the second half. The Tars would cut the Panthers' lead to 5-4 before Johnson completed her hat trick later in the half to give Tech a 6-4 edge with 10:12 to go.
Rollins scored two goals over the next 3:26 to tie the game up at 6-6 with 6:46 remaining. Both teams would have opportunities to take the lead in the waning moments of regulation, but neither were able to convert, and the game went into overtime.
The Panthers forced a turnover off the draw and pushed the ball on offense early in the overtime period but were unable to get a shot off. Rollins got possession back and moved it into their offensive end, and eventually scored the game-winner just over two minutes into overtime.
Florida Tech finished with an advantage in shots (25-20), shots on goal (16-13) and draw controls (9-6). The Tars won the battle for ground balls (20-14) and had more free position shots (8-5) in the game.
The Panthers are back in action on Saturday, April 3, hosting No. 8 Tampa at Panther Stadium. The matchup is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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.
