TAMPA, Fla. – Florida Tech men's lacrosse battled until the clock ran out, holding Tampa scoreless in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell short against the No. 8 Spartans.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final OT: Florida Tech 11, #8 Tampa 14
Records: Florida Tech (5-5, 1-2 SSC) | Tampa (9-2, 3-1 SSC)
Locations: Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex | Tampa, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER: 

• Tampa jumped out in front early on to take a 2-0 lead just two minutes into the game.
• Brett Nastos scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-1 with 10:42 to go.
• Spartans would tally two more before Tech got another opportunity.
• Zach Rozgonyi would answer back for the Panthers on a feed from Nate Deplancke with 7:08 remaining.
• Each team recorded one more goal before the end of the opening frame. Rozgonyi posted his second goal of the game on an assist from Collin Stewart.

SECOND QUARTER: 

• Three straight for the Spartans extended their lead 8-3 with 8:29 left in the period.
• Collin Stewart and Deplancke each netted one over a two-minute span to cut the deficit 8-5, both assisted by Jakob Terpak.
• Tampa would go on to score two more to end the quarter 10-5.

THIRD QUARTER: 

• Tampa extended its advantage to 11-5 with 11:05 to go.
• Stewart completed the hat trick with back-to-back goals, 7:27 left on the clock.
• Spartans tallied three straight before Rozgonyi scored his third of the day. Tampa led 14-8 heading into the final period.

FOURTH QUARTER: 

• The Panther defense held the Spartans scoreless in the fourth period.
• Noah Stecher fed Rozgonyi to trim the deficit to five just 50 seconds in.
• Gary Lozito and Stewart scored unassisted goals later in the quarter to make it a three-goal game with 3:40 left.
• Tampa held the Panther for the remaining minutes to secure the win.

 
COACHES CORNER:
"We're never happy losing, but our guys didn't stop working tonight against a pretty talented team," said head coach Brad MacArthur. "We showed improvement in some areas that we've been talking about in practice, and you can see the light bulb going off in players."

NOTABLE PANTHERS: 

• Zach Rozgonyi and Collin Stewart led Tech with 6 points each, both on four goals and one assist.
• Nate Deplancke tallied one goal and one assist.
• Gary Lozito and Brett Nastos recorded one goal a piece.
• Jakob Terpak dished out two assists and three ground balls.
• Sam Balch posted three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
• Jack Marano went 5-10 at the X with three ground balls.
• Jax Francisco finished with 12 saves in net on 26 shots on goal for a .462 save percentage.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Tampa ended with more shots (48-27), shots on goal (26-17), and ground balls (45-36).
• Both teams won 14 faceoffs
• Tech was 18-20 on clear attempts while Tampa was 18-19.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech moves to 17-1 all-time against the Spartans.
• Rozgonyi broke the program record for career hat tricks with 16. He suprasses Logan Sweeney (2016-2019).

UP NEXT: Florida Tech is back home on Saturday, April 8 taking on Palm Beach Atlantic. Contest is set for noon.
 
 
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.