Sports Lowdown

Allie Modica - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography For the second time in eight days, the Florida Tech Panthers took down the Rollins Tars in an instant classic. The Panthers overcame a five-goal deficit to win 19-14 and earn a spot in Sunday’s Sunshine State Conference title game against the Florida Southern Moccasins. Last Thursday, the Tars led early in the regular season finale and the Panthers came back to win. They did so again on Friday, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, only to see the Panthers storm back and win again. It was a total team effort on Friday, with Allie Modica leading the charge with five goals and an assist. Caroline Dunleavy tallied four times and had an assist. Aleah Fjelstad also had four goals, while Sara Grenier had a hat trick and Mary Gormley had four assists. The Panthers took 39 shots, 33 on goal. They forced 27 turnovers, while Rollins got 21. The Tars did have a 19-13 advantage in ground balls and held an 18-15 edge in draw con...

Mary Gormley - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Women’s lacrosse team celebrated Senior Night in grand fashion Saturday, with a 19-3 victory over Tampa in a Sunshine State Conference contest. The Panthers were able to get everybody in the game, clearing the bench in the second half. “This was obviously a conference game we wanted to win,” said Florida Tech coach Corinne Desrosiers. Point differential doesn’t really matter, we wanted to win and we wanted to make sure everyone got looks.” It was the final home game for Allie Modica , who finished with a hat trick. She was joined by fellow seniors Arielle Gunderson and Jesse DePaolo , who were honored prior to the game. Coach Desrosiers said that Modica would probably end up being a Hall of Famer for the program. “She’s done great thing for us,” she said. “We’re really fortunate that she transferred from UConn and came down and played.” “Arielle came in at the right time too,” Desrosiers con...

Allie Modica - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Sara Grenier and Allie Modica tallied six goals each Tuesday night, as the Panthers trampled the Saint Leo Lions 22-7 in a Sunshine State Conference women’s lacrosse matchup. The Panthers surpassed the 200-goal mark for the second time in school history. For Grenier, the current Sunshine State Conference Offensive Player of the week, it was her second consecutive six-goal game. Grenier wasted no time picking up right where she left off against Regis on Friday , scoring the first goal of the night 2:17 into the game, against Lions starting goaltender Erin Davis. Modica scored 55 seconds later, setting the tone for the night, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Saint Leo cut the lead to 2-1, before Grenier scored with 24:47 left. Sam Schiano picked up a yellow card for the Panthers, but the defense and Panthers goalie Stephanie Stuart kept the Lions off the board. Schiano made up for the yellow card moments later, g...

Sara Grenier - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The ninth-ranked Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team overcame a six-goal halftime deficit on Friday, beating the 15 th ranked Regis Rangers, 15-13 at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. The Florida Tech victory snapped the visitors eight-game winning streak. Sara Grenier scored a game-high six goals, including four in the second half, leading the Panthers improbable comeback. She also added an assist, giving her a seven-point game. Florida Tech goalie Stephanie Stuart  (9-2) made only five saves, but she had a big one with 1:13 to go in the contest, robbing Erin Steiner on the doorstep. Regis fired 18 shots at her in the game, but only three in that decisive second half. Things got off to a tough start for the Panthers, as Regis (8-1) scored the first three goals of the contest.  Grenier got the Panthers on the board with 23:35 left in the first half, beating Rangers goalie Kenley Harrington. Goals from Caroli...

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...

Aleah Fjelstad   - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The 12 th ranked Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team continued their winning ways Thursday night, pounding first year program Concordia-St. Paul, 20-5. It was the eighth consecutive victory for the Panthers, who have been playing lights out as of late. Aleah Fjelstad scored four goals and two assists to lead the home team. Sara Grenier , Mary Gormley and Allie Modica all posted hat tricks for the Panthers, while Caroline Dunleavy had a goal and an assist hat trick. It was a long night for Concordia-St. Paul goalie Katie Lottsfeldt, who saw the Panthers fire 35 shots, 31 of those on goal. She made 11 saves. Her counterpart Stephanie Stuart continued her stellar play in the Panthers net, making four saves. Chloe Zador played the second half in place of Stuart and she allowed two goals. Fjelstad and Lauren Tybor scored 17 seconds apart, getting the Panthers off and running less than three minutes int...

Panthers goalie Stephanie Stuart - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography  Following her six-goal, two assist performance on Thursday, in a 22-4 win over Tusculum, Florida Tech senior Allie Modica scored four more goals Saturday. Her six-point night against Indiana University of Pennsylvania led the Panthers to a 16-12 victory. Florida Tech came into the game ranked 17 th in the country, while the Crimson Hawks came in ranked 14 th . It was the first game of the season for the visitors, while the Panthers reeled off their seventh consecutive victory. The Panthers (7-1) has cruised to victory in their last handful of games, but they got all they could handle Saturday, before pulling away late. The first 10 goals of the game, were scored in 15:09 and there was no leader. Aleah Fjelstad , Modica (twice) Sara Grenier and Sam Schiano all tallied for Florida Tech in that span. Caroline Dunleavy and Fjelstad made it 7-5, with 10 minutes left in the first half. ...

Caroline Dunleavy scored four goals Friday afternoon - Photo credit: James Ragan The Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team traveled to North Carolina on Friday to take on Belmont Abbey. The trip was worth it, as the Panthers scored a 17-5 victory, scoring the last 16 goals of the game. Stephanie Stuart made eight saves on 13 shots, picking up the win in goal for the Panthers. Belmont Abbey Keeper Annie Brannon fell to 3-1, making 12 saves on 29 Florida Tech shots. Belmont Abbey (3-1) came into the game undefeated and had wins of 23-0, 23-1 and 9-8, giving them 55 goals and an average of 18.33 goals a game. None of that mattered to the Panthers, who weathered an early storm by the Crusaders and shut that high-powered offense down in the second half. It looked like the home team was going to continue that offensive dominance early. With the game tied at one, following a goal Lauren Tybor 8:45 into the game, Belmont Abbey scored the next four goals. Three of those four...