2023 Men's Soccer
Florida Tech defeated Limestone 3-2 in OT to claim the Super Region 2 Championship in 2023 at Saints Field in Gaffney, S,C,, coached by Robin Chan.
The Panthers returned to the NCAA DII quarterfinals for the first time since 1993.
- Both teams battled for possession for most of the first half, but the Panthers outshot the Saints 4-2.
- Iker Bastida made a huge diving save in the 39th minute to keep the Saints off the board.
- Limestone wasted no time in the second half, scoring just eight minutes into the period. Jacob Hancock was fed a cross to the right side of the box for the opportunity.
Seven minutes later,
Fabio Amaral answered back to tie it up. After regaining possession and pushing the ball down the field, a ball off the foot of
Joakim Jahnsen landed to Amaral to net the equalizer. Just ten minutes later,
Jacopo Ghezzi took a free kick that went off the head of
Andrea Pisaneschi, to the head of
Sjur Drechsler to the back of the net. In the 75
th minute, Limestone tied it up once again with a header of their own. Neither team could capitalize for the remainder of regulation to push it to overtime. In the first overtime period, teams battled but neither was able to record a shot on goal.
The game-winner came in the 110th minute on a corner kick as Ghezzi sent the ball to the far post, where Pisaneschi headed it to Amaral, and Amaral was able to convert for the win. The Panthers claim the Super Region 2 Championship and advance to final four in the 5th program history.
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2023 Women's Soccer
Florida Tech defeated Nova Southernereastern 3-1 to claim the South Region Championship in 2023, coached by Ryan Moon.
The Panthers got on the board first on a goal by Marem Ndiongue in the 2th minute off a beautiful cross from Sara Batchadji. and proceeded to knock the ball off the post and into the goal to give Tech an early 1-0 advantage.
After some back-and-forth for possession, Katherine Cunningham sent a cross into the box and connected with a diving Ndiongue who drilled the ball into the back of the net with a header to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
In the 52nd minute, Ndiongue broke away from NSU's defense and passed the ball off to Josefine Nilsen. Nilsen deposited her shot past the keeper to make it a 3-0 match.
The Sharks scored their lone goal of the match in the 66th minute with a long shot from Jordyn Pitter to make it 3-1
The clock struck zero and the Panthers rushed the field to claim the program's third Region Championship in program history.
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2021 Women's Soccer
Florida Tech defeated West Florida 3-1 in Penalty kicks to claim the South Region Championship in 2022, coached by Ryan Moon.
The Panthers got on the board first on a goal by Marem Ndiongue in the 29th minute off a beautiful cross from Kate Frazier. Frazier beat her defender near the goal line and then threaded a pass to Ndiongue who was open in front and scored to put Tech up 1-0.
West Florida tied the game, 1-1, in the 35th minute on a score by Peyton Peffers off an assist from Blair Cowan.
The score remained tied after two overtime periods and went to penalty kicks. Mayara Quieroz and UWF's Cowan scored to make it 1-1 at the end of the first round of PKs. Emily Swope had her PK stopped while UWF's Kileigh Whited rang her shot off the cross bar to remain 1-1 at the end of two rounds.
In round three, Vilma Ferdfelt converted her PK and UWF's Julia Comin missed wide for Tech to take a 2-1 lead.
Kate Frazier put the Panthers up 3-1 in PKs and Sanchez Recuero sealed the deal as she stopped UWF's final PK attempt to give Tech the NCAA South Region Championship and a berth into the Elite 8.
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2019 Softball
No. 4 Florida Tech softball won the NCAA DII South Region 2 champions Saturday, May 11, as the team took down No. 25 Mississippi College, 5-2. This win also marks the 42nd victory of the season which ties the program record set in 2007. This is also the second time the team has advanced to the Super Regional round of the postseason and first since 2015.
Vanessa Rubio had herself a day as the junior went 2-3 with two runs, two RBI and one home run. Shanysse Emerenciana also went 2-3 with two runs and Katie Maiello scored the other Panthers run.
In the circle for Tech was Melanie Murphy (25-5) and she pitched a magnificent game despite it being her third in as many days. The Melbourne native went all seven innings and only allowed two runs on five hits and sat three down on strikes.
The game did not begin in the Crimson and Gray's favor as the Choctaws had a run in both the top of the first and second innings and quickly made the score 2-0. However, the lead would be halved in the bottom half of the second when Mikayla Wessel's beautiful shot to the left-center field gap got the Panthers first run on the board.
The score would hold for two innings till a wild pitch by MC allowed Shanysse to trot across the bag. This tied it at 2-2 as the contest went into the fifth inning.
It would be another two innings before more runs were tallied. But it was worth the wait as Vanessa Rubio hit a dinger that just barely cleared the right-center field fence to score both Maiello and herself.
The final run of the ballgame came later in the sixth when a slow grounder to the shortstop by Victoria Szrom which afforded Shanysse enough time to cross the plate safely. This gave the Panthers its 5-2 victory and put the women one step closer to a national title.
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2015 Softball
Brigit Godrey fielded a Courtney Shields grounder and shuttled the ball to Taylor Peterson at third for the final out. Immediately after, pandemonium ensued as sixth-seeded Florida Tech celebrated its first-ever NCAA Regional Championship, defeating three-seeded and No. 19 North Alabama 4-2 on Sunday at the UNA Softball Complex. Coached by Val Silvestrini.
UNA (38-14) forced the winner-take-all game earlier on Sunday, defeating the Panthers 2-1 in the first game of the day. The Lions struck with a thud in the fourth inning, as Libby Olinger crushed a Rachel Pence offering over the left field fence to score two runs.
The Panthers (38-18) drew near in the sixth, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with a Nicole Miller single up the middle, scoring Elaine Brown from second. North Alabama, however, held off the rally and forced the second game of the day.
Tech did its damage early in the later game, scoring all four runs in the first two innings.The Panthers didn't need the advantage of a hit in the first, as Godfrey walked, stole second and third and was plated with a grounder to the shortstop by Miller.
FIT added to the lead in the second. Nicole Shinsky started off the inning by clobbering a double to left. Hailey Leonard followed by blooping a single just out of the reach of the shortstop, though Shinsky was forced to hold at second on the play. Both runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball.
The Panthers decided to use some small ball, electing to run a squeeze play with Jessica Callahan. Callahan laid the bunt down and the throw home wasn't quick enough to catch Shinsky. Much like the previous day, Godfrey came through with a clutch two-out single to center field. After the second inning, FIT led 4-0.
UNA drew near in the fifth as Olinger doubled home Reagan Tittle and Madeline Lee brought Brooklynn Clark home with a double to left.
The Lions nearly tied the game in the sixth when Carey Grace Peebles slapped a liner to the left side with runners at second and third but Godfrey laid out to prevent the runs from scoring. UNA again had two runners on in the seventh but was unable to make the final play.
With the game on the line, the Panthers turned to Pence to close out the game. Though the Lions put together a few chances, the sophomore produced all of the crucial outs to seal the game.
Taylor Smith was as solid as always, holding the powerful UNA offense to just two runs in her four innings to record the win, her second in as many days and 14th of the season.
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2010 Women's Soccer
Florida Tech women's soccer defeated Lenoir-Rhyne in a 5-4 shootout win to take the South Region Title at Pepin Stadium, coached by Fidgi Haig.
The Panthers and Bears battled to a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes of regulation and two sudden-death overtime periods. When the pressure was on both teams in the shootout, the Crimson and Gray rose to the challenge.
Lenoir-Rhyne took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Amber Holt in the 17th minute. Casey Lademann fielded a free kick approximately 25 yards out and sent it on goal. Scruggs made the diving save, however, she wasn't able to control the shot. Ann-Marie Helgestad pounced on the ball and blasted it into the net to tie the game.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Catherine Hauck converted the first penalty kick. Carly Hunt then countered to even up the shootout at one. On the ensuing strike, taken by Elizabeth Hawes, Mist Eliasdottir read the attempt correctly and made a diving save. After Paula Lillsjo gave her team a 2-1 lead, Audrey Moore missed on the Bears' third kick. Although the Panthers were off target on the next two attempts and Lenoir-Rhyne made two in a row to take a 3-2 advantage, Tech's confidence did not sway.
Casey Lademann fired in her team's fifth attempt to make it 3-3. Dana Hillmann would convert Lenoir-Rhyne's sixth chance before Eliasdottir came out of goal and shed her gloves to boot in the shootout-tying goal. She then re-tightened her mitts and forced Denesha Soto to misfire, allowing Kelly Whittaker a chance to make additional history for the program. Whittaker stepped up to the rock and sent it into the net, giving the Panthers the shootout victory.
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2002 Women's Basketball
As the No. 2 seed in the 2001-2002 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament, the Florida Tech Panthers coached by John Reynolds, defeated the No.4 seeded Central Arkansas Sugar Bears 71-64 to win the South Region Title at Walter Sillars Coliseum in Cleveland. Mississippi, hosted by Delta State University.
Felicia Bell led the way for the Panthers as the senior guard from Columbia, South Carolina recorded a team high 19 points, going 7-12 in field goals and making 5-6 free throws. Delicia Phillips, a Titusville, Fla. native, totaled 14 points in the regional title game going 6-12 in field goals and 3-4 at the line. Sarah Awe lead the Panthers in three-point field goals going 2-2 from behind the arch totaling eight points going 3-4 in field goals.
Phillips helped Tech take the lead early in the game, scoring the first two baskets to go ahead 4-2 early on. Awe’s first three of the game helped the Panthers go up 12-7 as Tech would continue to extend its lead to 22-11, their largest lead of the half with field goals from Hatasha Griffin, Pam Hatcher, Nicole Smith and Felicia Bell. As the Sugar Bears trailed by 11 with 9:25 to go in the first half, they slowly worked their way back into the game eventually trailing, 24-20 before bringing the game back to within one point 24-23. Tech would not fall behind, however as they led at the half 31-29.
A layup from Felicia Bell helped put the Panthers back up by four to start the second half. With Tech’s lead growing larger, Sarah Awe’s second three pointer of the game helped Tech make the score 51-41, Tech’s largest lead of the game. The Sugar Bears later regained the lead 58-57 with 6:31 to go in the game before a jumper from Delicia Phillips put Tech back in the lead 64-63. With the panthers ahead by one at 65-64, Shawntell Williams was fouled twice and went 3-4 at the line to put Tech up 68-64 before Felecia Bell was also fouled twice in the closing minutes and went 3-4 on her free throws to put the Panthers up 71-64 as time expired to give the Panthers the regional championship.
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1992 Baseball
Led by head coach Les Hall, Florida Tech went on to win the program’s first NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Championship and advance to the final eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers finished the 1991-92 season with a 28-22 overall record.
Ranked No. 22 in the nation and No.3 in the South Atlantic Region, Florida Tech defeated No.5 South Carolina-Aiken 7-2 in the South Atlantic Region Championship. The game did not begin in the Crimson and Gray’s favor as the Paces jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Trailing 2-0, Joel Stephens hit a grand slam to put the Panthers on top. Florida Tech would go on to win and advance to the championship portion of the NCAA Tournament.
Phil Campbell was named Outstanding Player of the South Atlantic Regional. Scott Brown, Jeff Driskell, Jeff Faino, Mike Hannon, Stephens, and Mark Venditti were all named to the All-South Atlantic Region Tournament Team.
The 1992 team’s achievement remains the best in program history.
*These totals do not include any discontinued varsity sports
