LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Tech men's lacrosse traveled to Lakeland to take on the Mocs' in an SSC matchup but first had to wait two and a half hours due to weather. It was a slow start for Tech, but the Panthers rallied back quickly and never stopped battling.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida Tech 12, #16 Florida Southern 15
Records: Florida Tech (7-6, 3-3 SSC) | Florida Southern (11-4, 4-2 SSC)
Locations: Lakeland, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER: 

• The Mocs came out strong going on a 4-0 run in the opening three-plus minutes of action
• Back-to-back goals from Collin Stewart cut the deficit 4-2 with 6 minutes left in the first.
• Gavin Wessel scored a man-down goal in transition to make it 4-3 going into the second period.

SECOND QUARTER: 

• The Panthers tied it up, 4-4, just one minute into the frame as Stecher found Stewart for the goal.
• Nicky Vreeland gave Tech their first lead with 12:44 to go.
• FSC outscored Tech 4-1 to take a 8-6 lead into the break. Tech's goal came from Stewart on an assist from Rozgonyi.

THIRD QUARTER: 

• Tech came out strong in the second half outscoring the Mocs 4-2 to tie the game 10-10 heading into the final frame.
• Rozgonyi found the back of the net on a feed from Stewart with 12:48 to go.
• Jakob Terpak scored on an unassisted effort with 4:19 remaining.
• Ronzgonyi found Nate Deplanke to make it a one-goal game before scoring one of his own, assisted by Elliot Yacu, to tie it up.

FOURTH QUARTER: 

• Teams traded goals over the opening five minutes of the fourth before a 4-0 run by the Mocs over a six-plus minute period gave FSC a 15-11 lead.
• Tech's goal came from Noah Stecher assisted by Gary Lozito.
• Panthers were able to tack on one more late goal by the duo of Stewart and Rozgonyi for the final tally 15-12

COACHES CORNER:
"We're proud of the way our guys battled tonight," said Coach MacArthur. "A lengthy bus ride, several hours of a weather delay and a slow start digging ourselves a 4-0 hole, but they never quit on themselves or each other."
 
NOTABLE PANTHERS: 

• Collin Stewart led all players with five goals, one assist, one ground ball, and one caused turnover.
• Rozgonyi finished with five points on three assists and two goals. He also collected one ground ball.
• Gavin Wessel recorded one goal and three ground balls.
• Nicky Vreeland tallied one goal and two ground balls.
• Noah Stecher added a goal and two assists.
• Jakob Terpak added a goal.
• Sam Balch led the defense with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• JP Panchookian finished with four ground balls, and two caused turnovers.
• Cooper Leonard went 10-18 at the X and collected two ground balls.
• Jax Francisco recorded 10 saves on 25 shots on goal.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech finished with the advantage in shots (44-36) while FSC edged out the Panthers in ground balls (36-35).
• Tech went 20-27 on clears, FSC went 19-22

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech moves to 5-6  all-time against the Mocs
• Zach Rozgonyi's five points moved him into a tie for third on the all-time career points list with 131.
• Jack Maranto entered the all-time top 10 in program history for ground balls with 94.
• Collin Stewart's five goals tied his career-high.

 
UP NEXT: Florida Tech is back at home Saturday, April 22 to close out the regular season against Rollins. The contest is set to begin at 11 a.m.
 
 
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech men'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.