Sports Lowdown

Florida Southern (6-1-1, 3-1 SSC) got two goals from Alexa Moberley on Wednesday, taking down the visiting Florida Tech Panthers in a Women's Soccer Sunshine State Conference match.   Florida Tech (5-3-1, 2-2 SSC) out shot the Moccasins 18-10 and had six shots on goal to the home team's  four, but the Mocs were the only team to find the back of the net, as Moberley beat Karlyn Prisco in the 27th minute and again in the 50th minute.   Maria Munoz continued to do her part with the Panthers, as she fired six shots in the game. One of those was saved by Florida Southern goalie Helena Norrstrom . Keira McCarthy was credited with four of the 18 Florida Tech shots.   Jess Goedde got three early corner kicks for the Moccasins and following the third one, she found Moberley in the box 26:10 into the contest and the home team was up 1-0. Corners were the story of the night for Florida Southern, as they held a convincing 12-3 advantage in that category by t...

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...

Sara Grenier - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The third time was not the charm Saturday, for the Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team. Florida Southern completed a season sweep of the Panthers, with a 16-5 victory in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament in Lakeland. Kendall Kerge, who had a big game against the Panthers earlier in the season, scored half of the Florida Southern goals in this game and added an assist for good measure. She scored on eight of her 10 shots. After a big win over East Stroudsburg on Friday, the Panthers drew a third meeting against the Moccasins and could not get through a very tough Florida Southern defense that put the clamps down early, making it difficult for the Panthers to get into any kind of rhythm. Sara Grenier and Allie Modica led the Panthers with two goals each, while Caroline Dunleavy and Aleah Fjelstad , had single tallies. Dunleavy, had seven goals and four assists on Friday, but Saturday, the Moccas...

Hailey Leonard - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers won the front end of a doubleheader with Florida Southern on Saturday, winning game one 3-2, but falling 10-2 in game two. The second game was called after five innings, thanks to the eight-run rule. Amanda Kahn got the start in game one for the Panthers, facing Hannah Loyer and the two battled through four scoreless innings, to start the game.  Kahn did give up two singles in the second inning, but Makayla Deuberry grounded one to Krista Patterson at short, who started the inning-ending double play. Kahn got out of more trouble in the third, after giving up a double and a single to start the inning, she got the next three batters in order. Hailey Leonard finally got the Panthers offense started in the fourth with a double, but a strikeout and a double play, left her stranded. Florida Tech would get another chance in the top of the fifth and they would cash in. Patterson dou...

Katie Maiello - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Makayla Palmer knocked in two runs and Katie Maiello had three of the five Florida Tech hits Friday night, leading their team to a 3-1 victory over Florida Southern in a Sunshine State Conference softball clash. Florida Tech (22-21, 7-9 SSC) struck first in the top of the third. Hailey Leonard was hit by a pitch for the third time in the last two days. Maiello singled and went to second on the throw that Leonard drew at third base. After Florida Southern starter Brandi Jones (2-10) hit Alexus Smith to load the bases, she walked Krista Patterson one out later, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead. The Mocs (13-20, 4-12 SSC) tied things up in the bottom of the inning, against Florida Tech starter Rachel Pence . After striking out the first two batters, Pence gave up a single to Desirae Klumpp. She would eventually score on a passed ball. Leonard would start the fifth the same way she started the third, taking one...

Carson Clough - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Florida Tech Men’s lacrosse played under the lights Saturday at Florida Tech Panthers Stadium and the spotlight was bright, as they scored a 19-8 victory over the Florida Southern Moccasins. Logan Sweeney and Nick Wynne had five goals each, while Carson Clough tallied two goals and had four assists, leading the Panther rout. Florida Tech goalie Daniel Flock , who was named the national Defensive Player of the Week this week, made 15 saves. Sweeney got the scoring started 2:17 into the game and Wynne scored back-to-back goals six-plus minutes apart to make it 3-0. Adam Utter got the Mocs’ on the board with 2:58 left in the first period and Flock gave up a late one to Liam Winwood, with just seven seconds to go, closing the gap to 3-2. Clough’s first goal of the night made it a 4-2 game, 1:21 into the second quarter. Winwood answered just over a minute later, but Wynne completed his hat trick with 11:46 to go i...

Mary Gormley - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team took the defending NCAA Division II champion Florida Southern Moccasins to the limit on Saturday, as the Mocs escaped with a 12-11 win in overtime.  Florida Southern came into the contest ranked fourth in the country, while the Panthers were ranked 10 th , for the first time in the three-year history of the program. The game was everything you would expect from two nationally ranked programs and came right down to the end. The Panthers took their only lead of the game on a goal by Mary Gormley with 4:10 left in the game, giving the Panthers an 11-10 lead. It looked like that would be enough, but Kendall Kerge had other ideas. With nine seconds left in regulation, she beat Florida Tech goalie Stephanie Stuart , tying the game at 11. It took just 52 seconds into the sudden-death overtime for Florida Southern to avoid the upset, as Shannon Mazza scored the game-winner. T...

Reid Neal - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Southern Moccasins put Florida Tech behind the eight ball in Sunshine State Conference play, sweeping the three-game weekend series, highlighted by a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. Following their 3-0 win on Friday in the series opener , the Mocs took game one on Saturday, 3-2 and won a high-scoring game two, 12-8. Tyler Deel got the start for Florida Tech in game one and pitched well for six innings, despite giving up a leadoff home run to Cody Burgess to start the proceedings. That run held until the bottom of the fourth, when Dan Szpik and Ryan Sinzenich started the frame with back-to-back singles against Florida Southern starter Jake Walsh, Nick Capra reached on fielder’s choice, loading the bases. James Gronberg then grounded out to first, getting the run home and tying the game. Florida Tech got their first lead of the night in the bottom of the fifth. The...

Nick Capra had two hits in Friday's loss - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Reigning Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Week Logan Browning pitched six strong innings Friday night, striking out nine Florida Tech Panthers and leading the visiting Florida Southern Moccasins to a 3-0 win at Andy Seminck-Les Hall Field. Browning, the son of former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Tom Browning, allowed five hits and struck out 10. He got the key out he needed at key times, keeping the Panthers off the board. Florida Southern (12-6, 1-3 SSC) got on the board early, scoring a run in the first against Panthers starter Ty Cohen .  With one out, Cody Burgess singled and stole second. He later scored on a Jason Sierra single. The Mocs got a single from Austin Mauer to start the second, but Cohen got Kevin Fuller to line into a double play. That was key at the time, because Christian Maglich hit a long solo blast, putting the visitors up 2-0. The Panthers (13-6, 0-...

Gudlau Juliusdottir (#11) had 15 points in the Panthers victory - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography On what amounted to a historic day in the history of Florida Tech Women’s basketball, the Panthers stunned the second seed Florida Southern Moccasins 58-52 in the semifinal round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament. Florida Southern (20-9) uncharacteristically turned it over 22 times. Florida Tech took advantage, scoring 24 points off those turnovers. The Panthers were generous in their own right, coughing it up 19 times. Southern scored 20 as a result. Julie McCarthy was bound and determined to keep her senior season going with a double-double on Saturday, 12 points and 11 rebounds. She threw in two blocks and two steals just for good measure. “We’ve been up and down all year and the last couple games we’ve been just trying to focus on one game at a time,” said McCarthy after the game. “Now it’s just another game tomorrow and we’ll try to focus and pre...