Sports Lowdown

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 ch...

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 ...

Melbourne became upset city on Wednesday, as the Florida Tech Panthers defeated the number eight team in the country, the Lynn Fighting Knights, 2-1.   This was a huge bounce-back win, for the Panthers who were upset by Barry on Saturday, who at the time had one win on the season. The Panthers who were ranked 12th coming into that game, dropped out of the top 25 because of that loss, so Wednesday's win over Lynn was huge.   The game started about 95 minutes late due to rain at Rick Stottler Field, but once things got underway, the Panthers were up to the challenge. The defense pitched a shutout in the first half, only allowing the Fighting Knights one shot and that was not on goal.   Florida Tech (9-2, 6-1 SSC) got on the board 11:55 in when Jan Hlavica took a long-range shot and that Lynn goaltender Alexander Roth looked poised  to bat it over the top of the net, but he couldn't corral it and it snuck in behind him from about 35 yards out. It wa...

The Barry Buccaneers picked up just their second win of the season on Saturday, upsetting Florida Tech 2-1 in a Sunshine State Conference match. The loss snapped the Panthers six-game winning streak and also earned them their first conference loss.   The Panthers (8-2, 5-1 SSC) got a couple shots early, including one by Luca Campanini in the 23rd minute. Campanini played about four more minutes before Brandon Smalley took his spot on the field.   Barry (2-5-2, 2-4-1 SSC) got on the board first when Toby Fura scored in the 34th minute, giving the Buccaneers a 1-0 lead. He beat FIT goalie Christopher Page and gave the visitors the early advantage.   Smalley took a shot high and wide a few moments later, but it didn't take long for him to make an impact, as he found Italo Ramos on a crossing pass and he drilled it into the bottom of the net, past Barry goaltender Marco Sordi. That tied the game 1-1, with 43:16 gone by.   The game remained tied a...

When things are going right, they're going right and the Florida Tech Panthers found that out Saturday when they got a lucky bounce in overtime to beat the Embry-Riddle Eagles in a Sunshine State Conference men's soccer showdown.   With the game tied at one and the game 28 seconds into overtime, Toby Cassidy tried to clear the ball for the Eagles and it ended up hitting Brandon Smalley of the Panthers and bounding past Embry-Riddle netminder Richard Dearle for the game-winning tally.   With the victory, the 24th ranked Panthers notched their fifth straight win and moved to 7-1 overall. They kept their unblemished conference record intact, at 4-0 and improved to 4-0 on the road.   Things didn't look good early, as the Panthers were whistled for a penalty at the 35:31 mark when Daniel Gylfason was taken down in the box. The penalty kick was awarded and Magnus Magnusson made the Panthers pay, as he fired it by Panthers goalie Christopher Page .   ...

Solomon Wheatley had a goal taken away from him when the Panthers game against Saint Leo was postponed on Friday after the field became unplayable. On Wednesday, Wheatley got that goal back, as he scored the game-winner 69:48 into the game, giving the Panthers a 2-1 win over Florida Southern at Rick Stottler Field.   The Panthers (6-1, 3-0 SSC) had to come back in this one, as the Moccasins got on the board 6:50 into the contest, taking advantage of a turnover by Florida Tech on a throw-in. The ball came to Christoph Gums, who pushed it in, surprising Panthers goalie Christopher Page .  He was unable to react, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. James Smith got the assist.   It took FIT some time to get their bearings, but they got things going when Evan Enders made a nice pass to Brandon Smalley , who found Per Henrik Nag cutting in. He knocked it past Mocs' goalie Benny Yusufoglu, tying the game at one, with 20:44 to go in the first half.   That goa...

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....

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...

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 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...

Returning to the field for the first time since October 1, the Florida Tech Men’s Soccer squad beat Nova Southeastern and Florida Southern this week, in back-to-back Sunshine State Conference games. After having their October 5 game against Warner canceled and the October 8 game against Embry-Riddle postponed, the Panthers improved to 7-2-1 overall and 5-2 in the SSC with the two victories. On Wednesday, Adin Kavara converted two penalty kicks to beat Nova Southeastern 2-1. It was redemption for Kavara, who missed the first penalty kick of his career back on September 11 against West Alabama. He got back on track in a big way Wednesday, putting two of them home. Kavara’s first chance came after Evan Enders was dragged down in the box in the 17 th minute. It was the only goal in a first half that saw the Panthers out shoot the Sharks 4-3. It took the Sharks (2-8, 0-5 SSC) just six minutes to answer in the second half, as Bestun Mohammed beat FIT goaltender Christ...

The Florida Tech Men’s Soccer team came away with a big 1-0 win over 22 nd ranked Rollins on Saturday at Rick Stottler Field in Melbourne. The win moved the Panthers to 5-0-1 overall and 3-0 in the Sunshine State Conference. Adin Kavara came up with the decisive strike 64:52 into the game, when he headed it past Tars starting goaltender Drew Trautmann. It was not an easy victory by any means, as Rollins controlled play for much of the first half, taking 10 shots and forcing FIT goalie Christian Moerch to make four saves. The Panthers took three shots in that first half, all of them had to be saved by Trautmann. Moerch barely had a chance to get comfortable between the pipes, as he made his first save 14 seconds into the game. Rollins had another shot go off the post at the 11:56 mark. Sam Sawyer and Kavara took a couple early shots, with Kavara getting one in the eighth minute and in the 10 th minute. In the second half, the Tars had a couple early chances, before...

The Florida Tech Panthers won the battle of unbeatens on Saturday at Rick Stottler Field, taking down the Eckerd Tritons 3-2 in a Sunshine State Conference Men’s Soccer showdown. The Panthers (3-0-1, 1-0) fired 19 shots, with seven of them on goal. In contrast, Eckerd had only six. Florida Tech’s Sam Sawyer got the home team on the board first at 13:06, beating Eckerd goalie Alex Gott. The assist went to Josh Thomas . The Tritons (5-1, 1-1) were in good position to tie things up when Sawyer picked up a yellow card at 30:36, resulting in a penalty kick for Matheus Assumpcao. Florida Tech goalie Christian Moerch was up to the task, diving to his right and getting the save. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Assumpcao was in position to pick up the rebound and he drove it past Moerch, tying the game at one. Florida Tech kept up the pressure getting two corner kicks in the 33 rd minute, by Josh Thomas and Luca Campanini 14 seconds apart. They did not convert, but in the 42 ...

The Florida Tech Men’s Soccer team moved to 2-0-1 on the season with a 1-0 victory over West Alabama Tigers on Sunday. Evan Enders beat West Alabama goalie Brad Louis with a shot at the 31:26 mark and the Panthers were able to make it hold up. Luca Campanini, who had  one goal last week  in a 1-1 tie with Mississippi College, got an early chance on Sunday, getting a header on goal, that was saved by Louis 2:58 into the game. The next best chance for Florida Tech came with 17:56 gone in the first half, when a West Alabama defender knocked the ball down with his arm, resulting in a penalty kick. Senior forward Adin Kavara, who had never missed a penalty kick in his career took the shot. Louis lunged to his left, guessing right and knocked the shot away, keeping the game scoreless. Jack Turnbull got a shot off against Louis with 27:37 left in the half, but Louis was again up to the task. The Tigers (0-3) managed just one shot in the first half, as the defense took...