Panthers Beat Lynn, Earn Berth in SSC Title Game

Carson Clough amassed sedven points Friday night in the Panthers win - Photo credit: James Ragan

The Florida Tech Panthers outscored Lynn 5-1 in the second half Friday, leading to a 13-6 victory over the fighting Knights in the Sunshine State Conference Men’s Lacrosse semifinal. With the win, the Panthers landed a spot in the SSC title game on Sunday.

Carson Clough led the way for the Panthers, scoring four goals and assisting on three more. Logan Sweeney chipped in with three goals of his own. Johnny Gavin led the Fighting Knights with two goals.

Lynn (6-7) scored first, off the stick of Tully Wise. He beat Florida Tech netminder Daniel Flock, with 9:07 left in the first quarter. Less than two minutes later, Clough tied things up and that started a three-goal run for the Panthers, as Logan Sweeney and Austen Zugelter, who beat Lynn goaltender Collin McClelland back-to-back and led 3-1, with 3:58 left in the first quarter.

After Nick Howard made it 3-2, Sweeney bounced one between McClelland’s legs with 1:10 to go. A late goal by Dylan Riley, with 16.2 seconds left, gave the Panthers a 5-2 lead after 15 minutes.

Gavin scored his first of the night, 2:28 into the second quarter and Robert Filipow answered a couple minutes later, making it a 6-3 game.  The Fighting Knights got a goal back when Austin Jerhoff caught Flock out of his net and rifled it home to make it a 6-4 game with 9:11 left in the half.

Nick Wynne answered for the Panthers with 7:30 left and just after the Panthers killed a penalty off against Tyler Covey, Clough scored his second of the night, making it an 8-4 game. Mikey Urso tallied the last goal of the first half, cutting the Panthers lead to 8-5.

Clough and Sweeney ended the half with two goals each. The Panthers took 14 shots on goal and won 10 of 15 draws. Ground balls were even at 10 and the Panthers had eight turnovers, to Lynn's five.

Florida Tech (8-6) got the second half started with a goal from Matt Weinstein to make it 9-5. It was the only goal of the quarter. Lynn’s best chance came with 34 seconds left, when Flock made a great save up high with his stick and the ball glanced off his helmet.

Gavin got his second goal of the game 2:58 into the fourth, making it a 9-6 game, but that would be the last goal Flock would allow, shutting out the Fighting Knights over the final 12:02. Covey made it 10-6 and Clough scored goals 2:10 apart, extending the Panthers lead to 12-6. Sweeney would make it a seven-goal advantage, with 3:32 to go.

Flock got the win, making 13 saves on the day. Lynn took 34 shots to the Panthers 32 and won the ground ball battle 23-19. The Panthers were 15-for-20 on clears and Lynn made good on 12-of-15.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Lynn Box Score

In the end, it’s the score that mattered and Florida Tech did enough to earn their second trip to the SSC title game. The Panthers will take on host Tampa, who beat Florida Southern 13-12, in the second semifinal. Faceoff is set for Sunday, at 2:00 p.m.



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