Panthers Overcome Slow Start to Down Chestnut Hill

Nick Wynne had a goal and an assist on Tuesday

The Florida Tech Panthers got their second win of the lacrosse season Tuesday afternoon with a 12-11 victory over the visiting Chestnut Hill Griffins. Logan Sweeney and Cody Martin both had hat tricks for Florida Tech, while Tanner Fisher tied a career-high with five goals for the Griffins.

“Mentally we all needed this from me to the coaches, to the kids to our managers,” said Panthers head coach Ryan McAleavey. “We needed this win to get this train going.”

Martin scored the first goal of the game and the final goal of the game, ripping one by Griffins goaltender Thomas McDermott with 2:20 left in the contest. The Panthers hung on from there, forcing the Chestnut Hill defense to chase, until the clock ran out.

The Panthers (2-4) started the scoring with a goal from Martin 2:02 into the game. The goal was assisted by Nick Wynne. Carson Clough made it 2-0 1:36 later, with an unassisted tally.

Fisher answered moments later, and teammate Justin Albarran tied the score with 8:06 left. Martin got the Panthers back on track 3:45 later, giving the Panthers a one goal lead, but Fisher tallied with just 15 seconds left in the quarter, tying the proceedings at three.

Fisher picked up right where he left off to start the second quarter, finding the back of the net 28 seconds in. Andrew Dooley and Dylan Klusaritz found the scoresheet as well, giving Chestnut Hill a 6-3 lead at the 8:15 mark.

Ben Abell broke the Griffins four-goal run, scoring 1:06 later, closing the gap to 6-4. That was the only goal of the quarter for the Panthers, who went to the locker room down two.

“We came out too relaxed,” said, McAleavey. “Throwing the ball away, not picking up the ball and the stupid penalties in the first, we just didn’t play well.”

Florida Tech started the half on the right foot with a goal by Matt Weinstein, 1:38 into the quarter. Devan Martinez got his first goal of the season for the Griffins 20 seconds later, making it 7-5.

Sweeney scored two quick goals 46 seconds apart, tying the game at seven with 11:13 to go in the third. The teams went scoreless for more than eight minutes, before Fisher scored a man-up goal with 2:28 to go in the third, giving the visitors an 8-7 lead, heading to the fourth.

Carson Rees, who assisted on an earlier Griffins goal, scored one of his own just one minute into the fourth quarter, to give the visitors a 9-7 lead. It took just 28 seconds for Wynne to close the gap to one, 9-8. That started a four-goal run by the Panthers that included the hat trick goal by Sweeney, Charlie Morrisette and Abell. With that, the Panthers went from 9-7 down, to 11-9 up.

“Logan is a sophomore, he is one of our most explosive players and we are just waiting for him to take over games and this is his second hat trick on the season,” McAleavey said. “He’s a great athlete and his lacrosse skills are catching up to him. He’s gonna be a force.”

McAleavey also spoke highly of Abell, who is in his senior season. “Ben’s always been ready for us when we needed his number and we needed his number today. He came in and showed great leadership and poise and picked up big ones when we needed them.”

Chestnut Hill (1-2) wasn’t done, Rees and Fisher each got on the board again, scoring at 7:20 and 4:50 to even things at 11-11. A late penalty assessed to Sweeney, gave the Griffins a late chance, but it was the Panthers instead, that scored short-handed on the Martin goal.

When asked about the second half turnaround, McAleavey didn’t get into specifics, but you have to believe there was a spirited discussion in the locker room at halftime.
“We went inside, made our adjustments, said what we had to say and came back ready to play in that second half.”

For more info: Chestnut Hill @ Florida Tech Box Score

Next on the docket for the Panthers is a meeting with fifth-ranked Seton Hill, out of Pennsylvania. That game is set for Saturday, in Charlotte, N.C. Face-off is set for 1:00 p.m.

“We’ve got a huge game Saturday and we have things we need to clean up,” McAleavey said. “Hopefully we can build off this, we’ll see what happens.”


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