Sports Lowdown

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 .   ...

Rick Stottler Field Florida Tech women's soccer earned their second tie of the season on Saturday, this one against Embry-Riddle. The two teams played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer at Rick Stottler Field in Melbourne.   The Panthers (5-3-2, 2-2-1 SSC) managed 18 shots in the match, but Eagles goaltender Dana Ruchti saved all six shots on goal. Panthers netminder Karlyn Prisco was equal to the task, picking up seven saves. Embry-Riddle took a total of 20 shots.   Florida Tech took a total of 10 shots in the first half, including four shots on goal in the first eight minutes. In the second half, the Eagles fired the first shot 1:42 in, but Prisco made the save. At the 49:37 mark, Monica Zabian earned a corner kick and placed a nice ball to Keira McCarthy , who hit the post.   Rachel Owens took a corner for Embry-Riddle in the 63rd minute and the resulting shot by Ragnheidur Gardarsdo went wide. Moments later the Eagles Maria Schmiedhofer got behind ...

Nick Capra - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers came up one hit short of sweeping a doubleheader at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field on Friday. Instead, the Panthers had to settle for a split with the Embry-Riddle Eagles, winning game one 7-2 and dropping game two in 10 innings, 6-5. FIT was led by Vincenzo Catanza’s 4-for-4 day in game one. Nick Capra chipped in with a three-hit day. They had half of the Panthers 14 hits in that opening game. Grant Willcoxon (3-2) shut Embry-Riddle out through the first five innings, while Eagles starter Aidan Brady matched zeros for three innings, did not allow a run and only gave up three hits before giving way to Austin Lee to start the fourth. That’s when the Panthers offense got going. Dan Szpik reached on an error to start the inning, he moved to third on a single off the bat of Capra. David Wilson grounded out, scoring Szpik with the first run of the day. Ryan Sinzenich followed with an RBI sin...

The Embry-Riddle Eagles swept a doubleheader from Florida Tech on Saturday, with a 4-3 game one win and a 6-1 win in game two. It was the third straight win for the Eagles, who beat Florida Tech in the series opener on Friday. With the Eagles being a provisional member of the Sunshine State Conference, the victories count in the overall standings, but they do not count against Florida Tech as conference losses., That may be the only silver lining the Panthers can take away from the weekend. Errors hurt the Panthers in Friday’s game and they committed three more in game one on Saturday. Two of those led to Embry-Riddle scoring twice against Panthers starter Rachel Pence in the top of the first. Anna Battison singled and went to second on a throwing error. After a walk, Maggie Scott reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing Kendall Funk to the plate. She lifted a fly ball to left that resulted in an error and allowed both runs to score. Florida Tech put together a tw...

The Embry-Riddle Eagles took advantage of three Florida Tech errors on Friday night, en route to a 5-1 softball victory. Makayla Palmer went 2-for-3, while Alexus Smith , Julianna Goldberg and Audrey Gangloff had the other three Florida Tech hits against Embry-Riddle pitcher Illona Andringa. Andringa went the distance, giving up one run and striking out eight. Eryn Chester got things started for the Eagles in the top of the first, with a single up the middle against Florida Tech starter Rachel Pence. Maggie Scott would single later in the inning, bringing Chester home with the first run. A throwing error, coupled with a failed pickoff attempt, resulted in two more runs for the Eagles and a 3-0 lead. Embry-Riddle (5-10) would tack on two more in the bottom of the third. Chester led off with a single and scored on a double by Anna Battison. Scott would bring her home with a sacrifice fly to left, giving the home team a commanding 5-0 lead. Florida Tech (10-9) got ...

Sam Daniel - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers won their second straight game Saturday, getting a 102-97 victory over the Embry-Riddle Eagles. The victory completes the season sweep for the Panthers, who beat the Eagles in Melbourne back on January 4 on a Sam Daniel buzzer-beater . With the Eagles being a provisional member of the Sunshine State Conference this season, the victory does not help Florida Tech in the standings, but it should give them momentum heading into the last two games of the season, both at home. All five Florida Tech starters finished in double figures, led by 25 from Sam Daniel . Jordan Majors had 19, Patrick Anderson 18, Derek Murphy 16 and Rafael Casanova 15. Daniel had about 20 family members in the crowd on Saturday, per head coach Billy Mims, who talked to Jim Mitchell at the conclusion of the game. It was a good night for the Daniel family to make the trip. The Panthers (14-12, 6-10 SSC) led for o...

Panthers coach John Reynolds - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography It was not as good night on the court for the Florida Tech women on Saturday, as they were beaten soundly by the Embry-Riddle Eagles, 65-45. The Panthers never led in this game and shot just 31.4 percent from the field, while the Eagles were 25-of-47 from the field, for 53.2 percent. DeLise Williams 11 points led the Panthers, she also had four steals. Tereza Sedlakova tallied nine points and three rebounds. “If there’s one positive that comes out of this game, it doesn’t mean anything,” said Panthers coach John Reynolds. “It doesn’t affect us in the league, it doesn’t affect us in the standings, but it sure as hell showed me whose got heart and who doesn’t.” The reason the game doesn't affect the Panthers conference standing, is because Embry-Riddle is a provisional member of the Sunshine State Conference, which means they are not eligible for conference tournament play until next season. S...

Sam Daniel (0) and Jordan Majors combined for 68 points on Wednesday In one of the most exciting finishes you will see, Sam Daniel hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer Wednesday night, giving the Florida Tech Panthers a heart stopping 109-106 victory over Sunshine State Conference foe Embry-Riddle. Jordan Majors was the man with the ball in his hands as the read 4.7 seconds. He was going to the hoop, but the Eagles sealed it off and Majors found Daniel open and got it to him. Daniel beat the clock and the Eagles, with the biggest shot of his career. “Jordan driving down the court and I credit him for being focused enough to see me open and it was ballgame from there,” said Daniel after the game. “Coach tells us if you feel like you’re open take the shot. Him giving us that green light builds everyone’s confidence, it’s good to know that you have that green light and you’re not gonna be faulted, if you do take the shot.” “This is my 13 th season here and I don...

DeLise Williams scored 23 points in Wednesday's win Florida Tech’s women’s basketball team got the new year off to a good start, with a 73-60 win over Embry-Riddle Wednesday night, at the Clemente Center. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Panthers and moved them to 5-1 at home. Embry-Riddle fell to 9-4 overall, suffering their first loss in Sunshine State Conference play this season. DeLise Williams led the home team with 23 points, while Julie McCarthy and Tereza Sedlakova had 15 apiece. “We haven’t had three guys in double figures in a while,” said Panthers Coach John Reynolds. “Every kid on that team played hard tonight and I was pretty happy with the effort.” The Eagles had four players in double figures, led by Tara Fields, who scored a career-high 20 points. The Panthers (7-6, 3-4 SSC) led 20-17 after a back-and-forth first quarter, but the Eagles stormed back in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers 22-10. The Panthers, who h...

The Florida Tech Volleyball team went on the road Tuesday to take on Embry-Riddle, in Jacksonville. Coming off a rough weekend that saw them get shutout four times at the Hyatt Place Bash at the beach. The Panthers were hoping to get back on the winning track. Unfortunately, a slow start in game one that saw the Eagles win nine of 11 points in one stretch, led to a 25-11 loss. The Panthers earned a hard fought win in game two, 28-26, but Embry-Riddle won the final two games, leading to a 3-1 victory for the home squad. Game two was back-and-forth game of runs. The Panthers won four out of five points early, to take a 9-5 lead, but the Eagles bounced back with six straight points, to take a 14-12 lead. Florida Tech won six straight late in the match and seven out of eight, to take a 26-25 lead and after trading points, Florida Tech won the final two points they needed to win the game and tie the match 1-1. For the Panthers, it was the first game they won in the last f...