Sports Lowdown

Florida Tech scored early and they scored late, but in between they gave up three goals to the 20th ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks Wednesday night, resulting in a 3-2 loss at Rick Stottler Field. Elin Svensson got the Panthers off to a good start, scoring 2:24 into the match, off a pass from Monica Zabian . Nova goalie Jordan Lentz came out to try to cut down the angle, but Svensson got it by her for her first of two goals on the night. The Panthers (4-2-1, 1-1 SSC) took a couple more shots with Kiana Zanganeh and Svensson forcing Lentz to make a couple saves about 20 minutes after the goal. FIT held the lead until a free kick by Monica Orteu from 40 yards out was sent just over the outstretched arm of Panthers goaltender Karlyn Prisco and into the upper-right corner of the net. It was a great effort by Prisco to play the ball, as she leaped and came down into teammate Macey Hedelund , who was stationed at the far post. The Sharks led the Panthers in shots, 10-6 as the...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Florida Tech coach Steve Englehart has said week in and week out that last year was last year and this year is this year. In all those cases, he was correct... but this week, is just a bit different.   “You can't keep it from 'em, they know what it is,” said Englehart. “They know it's an in-state rivalry and it's a trophy game, you get a trophy if you win it. It is different.”   On Saturday, the Panthers will welcome the West Florida Argonauts to Melbourne for the second Coastal Classic game. It is the first in the series to be played at Florida Tech Panthers Stadium and Florida Tech will be looking to avenge last years' 42-39 loss, to what was then a first-year program, in West Florida.   “We went up there last year, we were 4-0 feeling pretty good about ourselves,” said Englehart. “They took it to us. They played better than we did, they played harder than we did... they played with more passion and they o...

The Florida Tech Panthers traveled to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, for a showdown with the Nova Southeastern Sharks. It was a tightly contested match throughout, but the Panthers prevailed 3-1, notching their 11th consecutive victory over the Sharks in Sunshine State Conference play.   Florida Tech (5-1, 2-0 SSC) kept Sharks' goalie Nico Rosiglioni busy in the first half, but he deserves a lot of credit, as he kept his team in the game. The Panthers got an early chance when Luca Campanini got Rosiglioni out of the net and had a golden opportunity, only to have Lucas Dessoliers layout and give up his body, to stop the ball from going in.   Shortly thereafter, the Panthers got behind the defense and had a 3-on-1. Brandon Smalley found Per Henrik Nag with a nice pass, but he banged it off the post, keeping the game scoreless, with 28:41 gone by. Rosiglioni came up big again later in the contest, making a point-blank Save on Smalley with 12 and a half minutes left....

Florida Tech scored their second consecutive home victory on Saturday, taking down the Eckerd Tritons 2-0 at Rick Stottler Field. This follows a 4-1 victory on Wednesday over the Lynn Fighting Knights.   The Panthers (4-1-1, 1-0 SSC) got off to a slow start, as they were held scoreless in the first half. Panthers goalie Karlyn Prisco returned the favor, keeping the Tritons off the scoreboard through the first 45 minutes, recording three saves in that span. She added one more save in the second half.   The Panthers finally dented the scoreboard 66:51 into the game, as Mary Watson found Keira McCarthy on a crossing pass and she headed by Eckerd goaltender Casey Winn and into the back of the net, giving Florida Tech a 1-0 lead.   FIT was awarded a corner kick about a minute later and they made it count, as Taylor Eller scored her second goal of the season. Maria Munoz , who had a hat trick on Wednesday, recorded the assist on Eller's tally.   ...

A 13-day layoff did not hurt the Florida Tech Men's Soccer team, as they opened their Sunshine State Conference schedule, with a 4-1 win over Eckerd on Saturday. With the victory, the Panthers improved to 4-1 overall.   Despite a decided advantage for the Panthers in shots, 20-5 and shots on goal, 11-2, it was Eckerd who drew first blood, with Juan Tejada beating FIT goalie Christopher Page in the 40th minute, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.   The Tritons took that lead to the locker room, but the Panthers got things going in the second half, with four unanswered goals.   Hugo Lopez and Brandon Smalley combined to even the match in the 67th minute, when Lopez found Smalley open and got it to him, ahead of the defense and he drilled just inside the post, past Tritons goaltender Alex Gott.   It took less than 10 minutes for the Panthers to get the game-winner, as Smalley assisted Stian Hagboe Olsen on a free-kick goal that was tucked just in...

Trent Chmelik - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers scored 28 points in the second half on Saturday, coming away with a 35-0 win over the Mississippi College Choctaws at Robinson-Hale Stadium. With the victory, the Panthers improve to 3-1 on the season, including 2-0 in the Gulf South Conference.   This was the second straight game that the Panthers defense did not allow a touchdown and the second shutout of the season overall, following the 44-0 drubbing of Virginia University of Lynchburg to start the season.   “The defense has been unbelievable,” said head coach Steve Englehart, as he started his postgame interview with Jerry Durney and Paul Van Scott. “They've been kind of a bend-don't break style all year and they didn't even bend tonight.”   Things got off to a good start for the Panthers, who took the ball 76 yards on their opening possession, highlighted by an 18-yard catch by Robert Foy and capped off by a Gary H...

Thursday's Football Practice The Florida Tech football team is coming off a convincing 31-6 home win over Shorter last Saturday and will now head to Mississippi College to take on the Choctaws.   “Practice was really good this week, we simplified some things both offensively and defensively, hoping to help with the execution we're looking for,” said head coach Steve Englehart. “I don't think that we've played great yet and haven't played at a high enough level. We simplified some things down, hoping to play better and play more mistake-free football.”   One of the mistakes Englehart was talking about was the Panthers early turnovers in the last couple games, both against McNeese State and Shorter, they turned the ball over on the first possession. McNeese took advantage, but the Florida Tech defense was able to keep Shorter from capitalizing.   “We have to make sure we put the kids in the right position, especially early in the football game,” En...

The wait was worth it for the Florida Tech Panthers, who opened their home season on Wednesday night with a 4-1 win over the Lynn Fighting Knights at Rick Stottler Field.   Maria Munoz was the star of the night, scoring a hat trick. She took five shots on goal, scoring three times and now has four goals on the season. “She played a great game and struck the ball very well,” said Panthers coach Dustin Smith. “There were some clean shots and clean opportunities and I'm proud of her.”   Lynn got the upper-hand early, with a goal off the foot of Donish Henry-Cole , who beat Karlyn Prisco with 39:43 left in the first half.   “Lynn came out and did pretty well in trying to assert themselves and be aggressive, I think that's why they scored early,” said Smith. "They were pushing us, they were being physical, all in a legal way and they caught us off guard and deserved the goal to go up one-nil.”   Just over 12 minutes later, Munoz got the Panther...

Antwuan Haynes - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Space Coast Daily Game Highlights - w/ Alan Zlotorzynski The Florida Tech Panthers secured their second home win of the season on Saturday, taking care of the visiting Shorter Hawks 31-6 at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. With the victory, Florida Tech head coach Steve Englehart improved his record over Shorter to 5-0.   It was a big night for the Panthers running game, as they racked up 340 yards on 47 carries, led by Antwuan Haynes , who carried the ball 19 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns, while Gary Holmes put up 86 yards on 11 carries.   “Offensively, I thought we did a lot of good things,” said Englehart. “We just gotta finish a little better. We were close to several big plays and really putting up some big yards.”   Things didn't start well for the Panthers, with the Hawks taking advantage of an early turnover.  On the second offensive play of the game Florida Tech starting quar...

The 24th ranked Florida Tech men's soccer team improved to 2-0 on Monday, beating the Shorter Hawks 5-1 in a non-conference match at Rick Stottler Field in Melbourne. The match was delayed twice by lightning but was able to be completed.   Freshman goalkeeper Luuk Teurlinx made his Florida Tech debut a memorable one, posting three saves and keeping Shorter off the board for the first 45 minutes of the match.   The Panthers had just three shots in the first half but led 1-0 on a goal from Luca  Campanini in the 11th minute. That goal stood up and the Panthers went into halftime up by that score. Per Henrik Nag and Josh Thomas were credited with the assists.   The Hawks (0-3) looked like the break was exactly what they needed, as they got an early goal from Hassane Traore, tying the game 1-1, 2:26 into the second half. Instead of giving Shorter the spark it needed, it seemed to fire up the Panthers, who went on the offensive immediately.   ...

The Florida Tech women's soccer team got a goal from Maria Munoz in the 33rd minute Sunday and it held as the game winner, as the Panthers evened their record at 1-1 with a 1-0 victory over Angelo State.   After falling 2-0 to Texas A&M Commerce in their opener on Friday and having just four shots on goal, the Panthers had nine shots on goal on Sunday and took 15 shots overall.   The Florida Tech offense was clicking early, as they took 11 of those shots in the first half. Munoz made hers count at the 32:58 mark, making a nice move around her defender and burying it into the left side of the net. K eira McCarthy was credited with the assist.   Karlyn Prisco got her second start in net for the Panthers and was tested only once, on a shot by Megan Allen in the 42nd minute. ASU goaltender Sammy Cude made eight saves, keeping her team in the game throughout.   Elin Svensson led the Panthers in shots with six, four were on goal. Munoz took...

The Florida Tech men's soccer season was delayed by mother nature on Saturday, as they waited just over an hour to get their opening game underway. In the end, the wait was worth it, as the Panthers took down Francis Marion Patriots, 4-2 at Rick Stotler Field.   Florida Tech (1-0) erased two one goal deficits in the match and scored three times in the second half, to secure the victory. Per Henrik Nag and Brandon Smalley led the Panthers offensively, posting a goal and an assist each. Evan Enders and Hugo Lopez had the Panthers other tallies.   Although things ended well for the Panthers, they certainly didn't start that way. The Patriots got on the board early, as Levin Sandmann sent an awkward knuckler toward the net that Panthers goalie Chris Page had go through his legs, just 45 seconds into the proceedings.   It took Florida Tech until the 16:53 mark to answer, as Enders took a pass from Nag and buried it into the right corner of the net, tying t...