LAKELAND, Fla. – Needing a win to continue to improve their position for postseason play at a venue where they traditionally hadn't had much success, Florida Tech men's lacrosse would need something special on Saturday afternoon. Over a 20-minute stretch that spanned the second and third quarters, the Panthers got it, outscoring Florida Southern 8-1, allowing them to survive a Moccasin charge in the fourth and earn a crucial 15-11 victory.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final:  RV Florida Tech 15, Florida Southern 11
Records: RV Florida Tech (6-6, 2-2 SSC) | Florida Southern (3-9, 1-4 SSC)
Locations: Berend Field | Lakeland, Fla.

FIRST QUARTER: 

• Jakob Terpak gave the Panthers the lead after 77 seconds, firing home after taking the handoff from Thomas Strong's lateral drive.  
• Gary Lozito doubled Florida Tech's lead just over two minutes later on the man-up, as he buried a laser after Danny Richmond's cross-field pass.
• The Moccasins got on the board at 10:32 with the extra man through Brydon Robichaud.
• Jack Cornwell's accurate shot from the left side restored the Crimson and Gray lead to two at 9:28.
• At 7:47, Andrew Walenty finished off a terrific team move from the doorstep to increase the lead to 4-1.
• 1:17 later, Gavin Stecher added to Tech's catalog of distance goals, converting Lozito's feed to make it 5-1 and force a Florida Southern timeout.
• Jack Epley halted the Panther run at 4:51.
• A procedural penalty in the final minute put Florida Southern on the man-up for the third time and they would cash in for a second straight opportunity, doing so through Anthony Guglielmo with seven seconds remaining.

 
SECOND QUARTER: 

• Carter Vaillancourt's rebound at 11:33 kept the Moccasins' run going to start the quarter.
• Maddux Walton brought Florida Southern level at 8:41 with his shot from the right side.
• Rob Gadomski capitalized on the Moccasins being caught during a personnel change, ending Florida Tech's 16:40 scoring drought to re-take a 6-5 advantage.
• Lozito's second goal was arguably the Crimson and Gray's best individual effort of the day, taking the ball from his own half and avoiding multiple Florida Southern defenders to give Tech a 7-5 advantage at 3:05.

 
THIRD QUARTER: 

• Stecher got the Panthers firing to start the second half at 11:49, converting Joe Coveleski's behind the net feed for his second goal of the game.
• Coveleski had the favor returned just over two minutes later, as Terpak found him in traffic and the sophomore earned his team-leading 17^th goal of the campaign.
• Drew Haffner gave the Crimson and Gray their largest lead of the game, capping another sequence that featured great ball movement, making it 10-5 at 8:39.
• Lozito completed his hat trick with his best goal of the day, snaring a high pass and immediately firing from distance on the right side with 7:14 left in the quarter.
• 1:24 later, Robert McNamara capped a tremendous sequence that he started with a caused turnover and then finished after five quick passes to cap a 7-0 run.
• Florida Southern got its relief shortly after it took a timeout at 5:50, scoring 27 seconds later thanks to Epley, which ended an 18:18 goal drought for the Moccasins.
• Nicky Vreeland converted a feed from Stecher for his first goal in over a year to re-strengthen Florida Tech's advantage to seven with 2:16 remaining in the quarter.  

 
FOURTH QUARTER: 

• Brady Colarik opened the scoring for the final quarter by finishing a counter with 10:42 to go.
• Nolan Tighe made it two in less than a minute as Florida Southern worked quickly following a Tech turnover.
• Isaiah Thomas picked up the ensuing faceoff and did the rest himself to cut the Crimson and Gray lead to four with 9:47 remaining.
• After Stecher was denied by a great save, the Moccasins quickly worked the other way and Vaillancourt buried his second of the game to bring Florida Southern to within 13-10 at 6:24.
• At 4:50, Haffner scored his second of the game and maybe his biggest as a Panther to date, making a cut and converting McNamara's feed to push the lead back to four.
• McNamara then sealed the victory with 2:19 to go, firing in from the left side for his second of the afternoon.
• Grant Ansted's goal with eight seconds left provided the final score.

NOTABLE PANTHERS: 

• Gary Lozito led the Panthers on the afternoon with four points, including his first career hat trick.
• Robert McNamara had two goals and an assist for a season-high three points.
• Joe Coveleski provided a goal and an assist for a second consecutive game, his seventh game with three or more points this season.
• Drew Haffner had his second multi-goal game of the season.
• Danny Richmond had a career-high three assists.
• Rob Gadomski, Jakob Terpak, and Jack Cornwell each contributed a goal and an assist.
• Steve Ulrichs and Brooks Van Esselstyn each had two caused turnovers.
• Carter Batt, JR Radun and Shale Saeger were tops in ground balls with five.
• Batt went 5-of-14 at the X, while Saeger was 6-of-16.
• Jax Francisco recorded 14 saves. 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

• Florida Tech out shot Florida Southern in terms of shots on goal, 26-25, while the Moccasins had more shots in total, 40-39.
• The Panthers caused more turnovers (13-11) and had fewer of their own (18-21).
• The Moccasins won the faceoff battle, 19-11, and gathered more groundballs, 48-41.
• Florida Tech was 22-of-24 on clears, while Florida Southern went 18-of-21.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Panthers are now 7-6 against Florida Southern and 2-4 against the Moccasins in Lakeland. Florida Tech has now won four of the past five meetings dating back to April 6, 2021.
• This is the Crimson and Gray's first win at Berend Field since a 15-14 triumph on April 14, 2018.
• With his first save of the game at 4:36 of the first quarter, Jax Francisco surpassed Daniel Flock (2017-2019) for the most saves in program history with his 476^th.
• Jakob Terpak's two points on the day give him 79 for his career, moving him past Carson Clough (2017-2018) into ninth place in program history for career points.

 
UP NEXT: Florida Tech returns to Rick Stottler Field on Wednesday, April 9^th for a Sunshine State Conference matchup with Lynn. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:30 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.