Melbourne, Fla. – The Florida Tech women's lacrosse program managed to secure its first win against a Top-25 team in nearly two years as the No.23 Panthers defeated the No.18 Saint Anselm Hawks 17-15 in a thrilling Thursday night contest. The night saw the Panthers tie their single-game draw control record, career milestones reached along with a career first for head coach Kelsey Richardson.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: #23 Florida Tech 17, #18 Saint Anselm 15
Records: Florida Tech (6-3, 0-0 SSC) | Saint Anselm (3-1, 1-0 NE10)
Locations: Rick Stottler Field| Melbourne, Fla.
 
FIRST QUARTER:

• Saint Anselm started of the game with a quick goal 45 seconds into the game to take the 1-0 lead.
• Jennie Boyle tied up the game off an assist from Emma Angelo just over a minute later.
• As both teams found themselves tied 2-2 after only four minutes of play, Anselm would wind up taking a two-goal lead over the Panthers with 6:10 to play in the first.
• Caroline Finn helped the Panthers narrow the deficit by scoring with the assist rewarded to Carly Niro.
• The Hawks would put up one more goal to take a 5-3 lead after the first quarter of play.

 
SECOND QUARTER:

• Sophia Scichilone made it a 5-4 game by scoring in the first minute of the second quarter before Saint Anselm put up three unanswered goals to make it an 8-4 game with 9:35 to play in the second.
• Scichilone, Charlotte Hardie, and Sofie Bender would keep Tech's spirits high as the three each scored a goal before the Hawks could respond to bring Tech's deficit to just one goal at 8-7 with 3:37 to go before the half.
• Boyle would assist Scichilone on her goal while Carly Niro dished out the ball to Hardie and Bender for their goals in the comeback effort.
• With .56 left in the half, the Hawks tallied one more goal in what would look like a two-goal lead heading into the half if it wasn't for Niro scoring with nine seconds remaining to make it a one-goal game, 9-8, entering halftime.

 
THIRD QUARTER:

• The Hawks tacked on one more goal to start the third to take a two-goal lead 4:51 into the third.
• Florida Tech's offense answered back however as Scichilone, Caroline Finn, and Bender would all score back-to-back-to-back goals in three minutes to give the Panthers the 11-10 lead with 2:56 to play in the third.
• Bender's goal would come off an assist from Boyle while Finn and Scichilone recorded unassisted goals.
• Before the clock could expire, Saint Anselm put up one more goal to tie it 11-11 heading into the fourth quarter.

 
FOURTH QUARTER:

• With both teams tied entering the potential final 15 minutes of the game, the Hawks struck first, scoring 4:08 into the quarter.
• As the Crimson and Gray had been doing all night though they responded with three straight goals to take the 14-12 lead over the No.18 team in the nation with 9:04 to play.
• Bender would score two of the Panther's three goals in Tech's run while Boyle would add another point to her stats for the night with the game-tying goal.
• Saint Anselm would make it a one goal game, 14-13 before Boyle added on another goal for Tech to make it 15-13 with 6:42 to go.
• With 5:37 remaining, the Hawks answered back trail by just one goal yet again before Caroline Finn's woman-up goal would give the Panthers the 16-14 lead with 2:23 left in the game.
• Jennie Boyle's fourth goal of the game would seal the deal as Tech took the three-goal lead with 1:25 to play off an assist from Michaela Wittman.
• A woman-up goal would be all that the Hawks could get In the final minute of the game as the clock struck zero and the Panthers took down No.18 Saint Anselm 17-15.

 
NOTABLE PANTHERS:

• Jennie Boyle would finish the night with a team-high four goals, two assists, three ground balls, and four caused turnovers.
• Jennie Boyle would end the night with four goals and two assists in the game.
• Freshman Sofie Bender would record five points herself scoring four goals with one assist.
• Caroline Finn would be Tech's fourth hat trick scorer of the game as she found the back of the net three times for three points.
• Emma Angelo would lead the Crimson and Gray at the Draw circle recording nine draw control wins.
• Kellen Lucchesi recorded her first win of the season in goal by making a total of four saves with just seven goals allowed for a .364 save percentage.
• Lucchesi is now 1-0 while Elizabeth Driscoll of Saint Anselm moves to 3-1.

 
 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• The Panthers improve to 3-0 all-time against Saint Anselm.
• The last time Tech and Saint Anselm met resulted in a Panthers 15-12 win on March 3, 2018.
• Tonight's win is the Panthers' first win vs. a ranked opponent since Tech upset then No.10 Rollins on April 23, 2022 by a score of 13-10.
• It is Tech's first win against a Top-25 non-conference opponent since March 12, 2022, when the Crimson and Gray defeated then No.16 Lander 13-9.
• Tonight's win is also the first Top-25 win of Head Coach Kelsey Richardson's collegiate head coaching career.
• With a combined 23 draw controls, the Panthers tied a single-game record which occurred on four other occasions.
• With her assist in the third quarter, Jennie Boyle reached a career milestone of 100 points finishing the night with a career 103 points.
• With two assists in tonight's game, Carly Niro passes Mollie Kaplan (2017-2021) for the eighth-most assists in program history.
• Tech outshot Saint Anselm 34-23 with the Panthers recording 24 shots on goal and the Hawks shooting on goal 21 times.
• Both teams turned the ball over 17 times.
• On clears, Saint Anselm was 16-22 while Tech went 11-17.
• In ground balls, the Panthers won the battle recording 14 GBs to the Hawks' 12.
• At the draw circle, Tech won 23 of 35 draw controls.

 
UP NEXT: The Panthers will now take the week off as the team preps for SSC Competition. The Tech will take the field again on Saturday, March 23^rd in a non-conference matchup against Rollins in Winter Park with the first draw set scheduled for 7:30 PM.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech women's lacrosse team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay updated on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.