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McCarthy Goal Keeps Panthers in Contention

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Keira McCarthy - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Keira McCarthy scored the only goal of the game Wednesday, giving her team a very important 1-0 win over Rollins in a Sunshine State Conference women's soccer match at Rick Stottler Field.   The Panthers dominated statistically, but Rollins goalie Kelly Rowswell kept her team in the game, making eight saves. The one save she couldn't make was off the foot of McCarthy, who didn't get all of the ball, but enough to just have it trickle over the goal line, with 20:12 to go in regulation. Brie Heitz was given the assist on the goal.   With the victory, the Panthers improve to 7-6-2 overall and move to .500 in the conference with a 4-4-1 record. They are now back in contention for a spot in the Sunshine State Conference tournament, which starts next Tuesday.   Florida Tech took 12 shots in a scoreless first half, with five of them saved by Rowswell. On the other side, Florida Tech goalie Karlyn Prisco

Gridiron Lowdown: Focused on Valdosta State

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Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Following their big win over then 18th ranked West Alabama last Saturday, Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart took a little time to enjoy his teams' victory, but it wasn't long before he was back to the coaching grind.   “It was good that it was a day game because then you had the rest of the day to savor it,” he said. “Went home, hung out with the family and had some friends over. It was fun, but back to work on Sunday to start preparing for a good Valdosta State team, who had a good win as well.”   Valdosta is coming off a 34-13 win over Delta State that saw the Blazers force four turnovers and scoring on all of them, to the tune of three touchdowns and a field goal.   “That was a huge win for them,” Englehart said. “They lost a close one early in the year to Albany State, they lost a close one to North AL and they lost to West Georgia. They're getting back on track now, won a couple in a row and they feel like

Tars Topple Panthers in SSC Clash

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Josh Thomas - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers led twice on Tuesday night only to drop a 4-2 decision to the Rollins College Tars in a late-season Sunshine State Conference match. This was the second consecutive loss for the Panthers, who fell to 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference. For the Tars, who were celebrating senior night, they got a much-needed victory, improving to 9-4-1, including 6-4 in the conference.   The night got off to a great start for the Panthers, who caught Rollins back on the heels early and took advantage of a couple Tars turnovers. The last of those turned into a Josh Thomas steal and he found Jan Hlavaca , on a cross, who tapped it past Tars' goalie Drew Trautmann , giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead 2:03 into the contest.   The Florida Tech defense held up well for much of the first half, but with about 10 minutes left, the home team was awarded a free-kick and although Luuk Teurlinx made the initial chest s

Panthers Comeback Falls Short at Tampa

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Jan Hlavica   - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers (9-3, 6-2 SSC) erased a two-goal deficit in the second half Saturday, only to have the Spartans Felipe DeSousa score his second goal of the night with 1:16 remaining in the contest, giving host Tampa a 3-2 victory.   The game-winner was a bookend goal for DeSousa who got the scoring started just 7:55 into the match, giving his team an early 1-0 lead.   Tampa took six shots in that first half, with Florida Tech goalie Chris Page making two saves on three shots on goal. Tampa keeper Jake Richards was only forced to make one save on four Florida Tech shots.   The Spartans (6-3-2, 5-2-2 SSC) got their second goal of the first half off the foot of Viktor Strand with 32:34 having elapsed.   The Panthers stormed back in the second half, taking 12 shots and converting on two of them. Just over 14 minutes into the stanza, Josh Thomas took his third corner in a short span. Jan Hlavica got i

Spartans Spoil Senior Night

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Karlyn Prisco - Photo credit: James Ragan Miranda Gonzalez scored the only goal of the night in the 39th minute on Saturday, giving her Tampa Spartans a 1-0 win over Florida Tech in a Sunshine State women's soccer matchup.   Brie Heitz , Kerel Morris , Karlyn Prisco , Elin Svensson , Mary Watson and  Aubri Williamson were all honored in a pregame ceremony. They will have one more regular season home game before saying goodbye to the Florida Tech fans for good.   Prisco gave up the first half goal, but she kept her team in it, making a couple key saves before that, including a diving save on an Emily Cady shot in the 24th minute and a follow-up save on Gonzalez, six seconds later. She finished the night with six saves overall. She now has 68 saves, good for third place in the Sunshine State Conference.   The Panthers best chance of the half came at the 27:54 mark when Monica Zabian took free-kick and launched it over the Tampa wall, but Spartans goali