WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Florida Tech men's lacrosse opened the Sunshine State Conference portion of the 2024 schedule on the road on Saturday Night at Palm Beach Atlantic. After taking a three-goal advantage into halftime, the Panther offense got hot and propelled Tech to a 16-6 lead, handing PBA their first loss of the season.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final:  Florida Tech 16, Palm Beach Atlantic 6
Records: Florida Tech (2-5, 1-0 SSC) | Palm Beach Atlantic (4-1, 0-1 SSC)
Locations: PBA Soccer/Lacrosse Field | West Palm Beach, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER: 

• After almost seven minutes of the play without a scoring breakthrough, the Panthers were the first to get on the board thanks to Griffin Martin's unassisted effort.
• Tech doubled their score two minutes later as Collin Stewart had a wide-open breakaway.
• With just nine seconds left in the opening frame, PBA found the back of the net to make it 2-1 going into the second period.

SECOND QUARTER: 

• Luke Policke netted one for Tech before PBA posted two straight to tie up, 3-3 with 7:24 to go.
• The Panthers ensued on a 3-0 run on goals by Brooks Van Esselstyn, Gary Lozito, and Jakob Terpak to make it a 6-3 margin heading into the break.
• Jax Franciso posted five saves in the second period to keep PBA trailing.

THIRD QUARTER: 

• The Panthers outscored the Sailfish 6-2 in the third frame.
• Joe Coveleski scored the first two goals of the period for Tech, both unassisted, while the Sailfish scored one in between.
• Collin Stewart got into the scoring mix on an unassisted effort.
• Ben Foster tallied a goal at the eight-minute mark off an assist from Nate DePlancke.
• Brookz Van Esselstyn scored his second of the game with 6:45 to go, and Cam Johnson tallied his first with 1:59 remaining, both on unassisted efforts, to propel the Panthers to a seven-goal advantage heading into the final frame.

FOURTH QUARTER: 

• Tech scored three straight to open the final period.
• Jonah Borynec grew the Panther's lead to 13-5 before Zach Rongonyi scored off a feed from Coveleski with 8:44 to go.
• Less than a minute later, Austin Engler found Danny Richmond for his first career goal.
• PBA tallied their lone goal of the frame before Drew Haffner closed out the scoring posting the final goal with 3:22 on the clock as the Panthers cruised to a 16-6 win.

NOTABLE PANTHERS: 

• Joe Coveleski led all players with three points on two goals and one assist.
• Brooks Van Esselstyn and Collin Stewart each tallied two points on two goals. Stewart also collected two ground balls and caused one turnover.
• Jonah Borynec finished with two points on one goal and one assist.
• Nine other Panthers recorded one goal.
• Cooper Leonard went 13-22 at the X while collecting six ground balls and causing one turnover.
• Jax Francisco earned his second win of the season while making  12 saves and posting a .667 save percentage.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech ended with more shots on goal (38-25), ground balls (37-27), and faceoff wins (17-9).
• PBA finished with a slight edge in shots (39-38).
• The Panthers were 22-27 on clear attempts while the Sailfish were 19-22.
• Neither team were successful on man-up opportunities as Tech went 0-1 and PBA went 0-3.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Panthers all-time series against Palm Beach Atlantic now stands at 5-0.
• Tech is 6-4 all-time in SSC openers.
• With his assist in the third period, Nate DePlancke moves into sole possession of 10^th place on the program's all-time career assists list. He surpassed current assistant coach Zach Wynne (2015).
• Danny Richmond and Drew Haffner each tallied their first career goal.

UP NEXT: Florida Tech returns to Rick Stottler Field Saturday, March 23 to take on Saint Leo. The contest is set to begin at 1 p.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.