Tampa Lacrosse Triumphs Over Florida Tech in SSC Championship

Austen Zugelter - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography 

The Tampa Spartans proved why they are the class of the field on Sunday, beating the Florida Tech Panthers 12-8 and earning their fourth straight Sunshine State Conference championship in the process.

Austen Zugelter had a hat trick and Carson Clough had two goals and an assist for the Panthers, in a losing cause. Matt Vetter had three goals and an assist to lead the Spartans.

The first half of the game was tightly contested, with the teams trading goals throughout. Tampa (15-4) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, before Clough and Tyler Covey tallied for the Panthers, tying the game with 5:53 to go in the first quarter.

Sean Herdman scored his second of the day 46 seconds later, but he was answered by Zugelter, with 1:25 to go. As has been the case on a few separate occasions this season, the Panthers gave up a goal late in the period, when Bryan Wright beat Florida Tech goalie Daniel Flock, with two seconds left, giving the host Spartans a 4-3 lead.

Zugelter and Matt Weinstein scored 59 seconds apart early in the second quarter, giving the Panthers their first lead of the day, 5-4. Jake Mosher-McGraw and Conor Whipple answered, giving Tampa a 6-5 lead, with 10:35 to go in the half.

Clough scored 15 seconds later, knotting things up again, before Whipple and Jake Schmidt closed out the first half scoring and sent the Spartans to the locker room, up 8-6.

In the second half, good defense and good goaltending from A.J. Arnold kept the Panthers from getting any closer. Arnold shut the Panthers out in the third quarter and allowed just two goals in the fourth. He made 18 saves in all, while Flock finished with seven saves.

The Panthers (8-7) did have their chances in that third quarter, but came up empty on a couple long possessions. Their fourth quarter goals came 1:10 apart, from Zugelter and Logan Sweeney. At that point, with 12:00 remaining in the game, they were down just two, 10-8.

Unfortunately, that was as close as they would get, as Schmidt and Vetter closed out the scoring for Tampa.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Tampa Box Score (SSC Championship)

Congratulations to the Florida Tech players named to the 2017 SSC All-Tournament team: Logan Sweeney, Nate Menninger and Austen Zugelter. Tampa’s Conor Whipple was named Most Outstanding Player.

The Panthers should be proud of their accomplishments in 2017. Thank you to head coach Ryan McAleavey and the Florida Tech Sports Information Department for their help and cooperation in covering the team this season.


This blog is an extension of our website - Sportslowdown.com Follow us on Twitter @sports_lowdown

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Panthers Beat Lynn in SSC Showdown

Image
Following the postponement of their match against Palm Beach Atlantic last Wednesday, the Florida Tech Women’s Soccer team was home to take on Lynn on Saturday, and came away with a hard-earned 1-0 win. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Panthers. Keira McCarthy scored on a penalty kick in the first half and it held up, in a defensive battle that saw each team take just nine shots. Florida Tech Goalie Karlyn Prisco turned away just two shots, while Fighting Knights goaltender Alexa Downie had eight shots come her way, saving seven. Prisco made her only save of the first half in the 27 th minute against Claudia Kraut and notched her fifth win of the season, four of those are shutouts. The key play in the game came in the 31 st minute when Elin Svensson found McCarthy with a pass inside the box. McCarthy was taken down, resulting in a penalty kick. She beat Downie on the ensuing penalty kick with 30:10 gone in the half and with that, got her s
Read more

Florida Tech Men’s Soccer Falls to Tampa

Image
The Tampa Spartans spoiled Senior Night in Melbourne, beating Florida Tech 3-1 in a Sunshine State Conference Men’s Soccer match on Saturday. The Panthers had their chances throughout the contest, firing 20 shots (11 on goal) in the loss, with 16 of those coming in the second half. Tampa (9-3-2, 4-3-1 SSC) jumped in front when Mike Ciluffo went one-on-one in the box, beat the defender and then beat Panthers’ goaltender Christian Moerch, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead 13:25 into the match. The goal was one of eight shots Tampa took in the first half. Florida Tech (8-3-1, 5-3 SSC) did not have a shot on goal in the first half and took just four shots total. This was unfamiliar territory for the Panthers, who usually get off a good number of shots in each half. Credit to Tampa’s defense for shutting down the Panthers offensive attack in the first 45 minutes.   The Spartans scored the eventual game winner just 2:12 into the second half, off the foot of Jake Winship, gi
Read more

Panthers Snake-Bitten by Turnovers at UWA

Image
The Florida Tech Panthers and West Alabama Tigers put on an offensive show in their Gulf South Conference meeting on Saturday, with the Tigers coming out on top, 45-35. With the loss, the Panthers will likely have to win all three of their remaining games, to make the playoffs. In our conversation with Panthers head coach Steve Englehart on Thursday, he was adamant that if the Panthers won the turnover battle , they would win the game. Unfortunately, the visitors lost four of their five fumbles, including one on the final play of the third quarter that resulted in a scoop and score for West Alabama. This was an 0ld-fashioned shootout from the start, with the teams combining for 1,147 yards of total offense. The Panthers had 643 yards, setting a school record and Quarterback Mark Cato passed for 502 yards, also a school record. On just about any other day, those numbers would translate into a win, but on this day, the turnovers kept that from happening. “You’re not goi
Read more