MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Tech men's lacrosse team punched their ticket to the 2026 Sunshine State Championship with a game-winner in overtime from Dawson Long on Wednesday, Apr. 22.
 
GAME INFORMATION 
Score: Second-Seeded Florida Tech 8 | Third-Seeded Saint Leo 7
Records: Second-Seeded Florida Tech 12-3 (6-1 SSC) | Third-Seeded Saint Leo 10-6 (5-2 SSC)
Location: Rick Stottler Field | Melbourne, Florida 
 
GAME NOTES
FIRST QUARTER

• The Panthers won the opening faceoff and fired two shots on the Saint Leo net. One missed wide while the other was saved.
• Joe Coveleski scored off an assist by Max Henry to put the Panthers ahead early.
• Saint Leo tied up the game a minute later off a nice shot with an assist.
• The Lions defense forced a couple of Tech turnovers and capitalized with a goal with 6:01 remaining.
• Ryan Chancer scored with 3:23 on the clock to tie the game at 2-2.
• Chancer then assisted Thomas Strong's first goal of the game 30 seconds later.

SECOND QUARTER

• It didn't take long into the second quarter for Saint Leo to tie the game as they scored within the first minute.
• SSC Defensive Player of the Year, Jax Francisco, proved how he earned the award with two big saves at 13:22 and 11:03 to give the ball back to the Tech offense.
• The Panther defense continued to make stops as Steve Ulrichs and Noah Guarrera forced the Lions into turnovers.
• Tech took the lead after Brooks van Esselstyn found the back of the net with the assist credited to Joe Coveleski.
• Dawson Long became the fifth different player to score in the quarter as he extended the Panther lead to two. Jonah Borynec picked up the assist.
• Saint Leo hit goals at the 1:39 and 16 second marks to tie the game going into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• Tech had a long offensive possession after a save by Jax Francisco, including three shots on the Lions goal but none were able to sneak by.
• The Lions had multiple opportunities on offense, but Francisco and the Panther defense stopped Saint Leo on consecutive possessions including three saves by Francisco and caused turnovers by Kevin Wolfe, Gavin Stecher and Steve Ulrichs.
• In Saint Leo's following possession, Florida Tech forced a shot clock violation.
• After both teams were hit with one-minute penalties, Landon Addleman scored to give Florida Tech the lead with 2:17 left in the third.
• Another save by Francisco and a Zack Ough caused turnover secured the Panthers shutout of Saint Leo in the third quarter.
• Francisco had five saves in the period while the Panther defense forced six Lion turnovers.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Thomas Strong fired a missile passed the Saint Leo goalkeeper to give Tech a 7-5 lead. Brooks van Esselstyn on the assist.
• Saint Leo would respond at the 11:33 mark with a goal of their own to bring the Panther lead back to one.
• The Lion defense held strong as they kept FT off the board with two saves and a caused turnover.
• With 6:53 remaining in the fourth, Saint Leo would tie the game at 7-7 with a nice goal coming off an assist.
• Both teams would earn the ball twice after, combining for four turnovers.
• With a chance to take the lead, Saint Leo's shot was deflected off a Panther defender to give Florida Tech the ball with 1:52 remaining.
• Tech's offensive possession ended in a shot clock violation.
• The Lions would be unable to get the final shot off as the game would be sent to overtime.

OVERTIME

• Saint Leo earned the opening faceoff of overtime. Steve Ulrichs would come up huge for the Panthers with a caused turnover to give Tech possession.
• Thomas Strong and Ryan Chancer had opportunities, but Strong would miss high while Chancer would hit the crossbar.
• Joe Coveleski picked up the ground ball to keep the possession with the Panthers.
• Ryan Chancer would find Dawson Long in the middle of the Lions defense, where he turned, a bounced the ball into the back of the net to give the Panthers the win and to punch Tech's ticket to the SSC title game.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• This was Florida Tech's third overtime win of the season.
• The Panthers have now tied the program record for wins in a season with 12.
• Dawson Long and Thomas Strong had multi-goal games.
• Steve Ulrichs was a force on defense tonight as he caused six turnovers and picked up five ground balls. Zack Ough and Kevin Wolfe both had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Ryan Chancer led Tech with three points as he had two assists and a goal.
• Jax Francisco saved 11 shots and now has eight consecutive games with double-digit saves.

COACHES CORNER
"Credit to St Leo for a tremendous game," said head Coach Brad MacArthur. "This game was exactly what playoff lacrosse should be." 
 
"We're proud of the young men and the progress we've made this season. We've believed in ourselves and each other all year. We weren't earning a ton of respect coming into the year from media and other programs. We wouldn't say that was a motivating factor, but we took notice, and here we are. We look forward to the battle on Saturday."
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will now head to Tampa, Florida to take on the top-seeded Tampa Spartans for the 2026 Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship. First faceoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m.