Sports Lowdown

Braly Municipal Stadium - Photo Credit: Jerry Durney North Alabama (2-3, 2-2 GSC) made their last Division II meeting against Florida Tech a memorable one on Homecoming Saturday, using 21 third-quarter points to pull away from the Panthers, 30-7. “It was just a horrible third quarter, can't-do anything about it,” said Florida Tech coach Steve Englehart in his post-game interview with Jerry Durney and Paul Van Scott of WFIT Radio. “Told our guys in the locker room you gotta do the little things right from Monday to Friday, you can't just expect to do them on Saturday and we gotta get better.”   On a night when the Panthers won many of the statistical battles handily, defending Gulf South Conference champion North Alabama took advantage of four turnovers, turning that into 20 points and sending the Panthers home with their second straight conference loss.   “Too many bad things happened,” Englehart, said. “Offensively, not really executing, couldn't bloc...

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.   ...

Brandon Ziarno - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers opened their 2017 season on Saturday night, earning their second straight home opener shutout. FIT got contributions from all three phases of the game, en route to a 44-0 drubbing of the Virginia-Lynchburg Dragons. The 44 point margin is the largest in the five-year history of the Panthers. Florida Tech (1-0) took a while to get their legs under them, as they led 10-0 at the half. A 15-yard run by Antwuan Haynes and a 20-yard run by starting quarterback Brandon Ziarno highlighted the Panthers opening drive, which culminated in a 20-yard field goal by Kyle Gullikson . “Offensively we started slow, we didn't do things we needed to do early on,” said Florida Tech coach Steve Englehart. “We were adjusting to what we were seeing on defense and that had something to do with it, but ultimately, we just needed to get going and sped up the tempo a little bit.” The Panthers looked primed to scor...

Rachel Pence - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography After a dominant 13-3 win in game one, The Florida Tech Panthers completed a doubleheader sweep of Eckerd on Friday, with a 5-1 victory in game two. Florida Tech ace Rachel Pence went the distance in her final home start for Florida Tech, striking out seven batters, allowing two hits and walking only one. It was an emotional day for Pence, who, along with six of her teammates, was honored as part of Senior Day, just before the second game got underway. “I was concerned with how our seniors were going to do right after the senior ceremony,” said Florida Tech coach Val Silvestrini. “They get emotional and we don’t have a lot of time to get ready for the game, but they did a great job.” The only run Pence allowed was unearned, in the first inning. Crystal Garcia hit an infield single to start the game and two batters later, Nikole Van Gennep hit one to Hailey Leonard at first. The hit off her glove and she reco...

Vanessa Rubio - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers used two big innings to make quick work of the Eckerd Tritons on Friday in game one of a Senior Day doubleheader. Makayla Palmer went 3-for-4 at the dish, Vanessa Rubio hit two homers and Krista Patterson added one of her own in a 13-3 win over Eckerd at Nancy Bottge Field on Friday afternoon. The Panthers jumped on Eckerd starter Grace Willeck for six runs in the bottom of the second inning. Palmer led off with a single and came home on Patterson’s two-run shot to center. Rubio went back-to-back, hitting her first of the day and giving the home team a 3-0 lead. Willeck continued to struggle, walking Kaitlin Buchholz , hitting Karina Suicava with a pitch and giving up a single to Hailey Leonard . Willick was able to get Sarah Hayes on strikes, before giving way to Madison Saltzman with one out in the inning. The pitching change didn’t do much good, as Alexus Smith drilled a double to th...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers will open the 2017 schedule at home, against the Virginia University of Lynchburg on September 2. That will be the first of five home games at Florida Tech Panther stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. It also kicks off the fifth season of football at Florida Tech, with the Panthers coming off their first playoff appearance in 2016. The team finished 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Gulf South Conference. The Panthers will have quite a mountain to climb in week two, when they visit FCS opponent McNeese State, in Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. The team returns home on September 16, to take on the Shorter Hawks in their GSC opener. The Panthers took down Shorter 40-0 last season in Rome, Georgia on what was a record-setting night. It was the site of the first shutout in school history and marked the first time the Panthers got off to a 2-0 start in the conference. The conference schedule c...

Brett Pohlmeyer - Photo credit:James Ragan Photography The 19 th ranked Florida Tech Panthers took one on the chin Saturday, losing to a very good Saint Leo team, 13-8 in a Sunshine State Conference lacrosse game. The Panthers never led in this one, getting within one goal a few different times, before Saint Leo would create distance. Saint Leo (9-3, 1-2 SSC) jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Panthers goalie Daniel Flock , to start the game, before Carson Clough got the Panthers on the board, with 4:18 to go in the first quarter. A man-up goal by Nick Wynne , made it 3-2 with 1:05 to go, but Anthony Visintin pushed the lead to two, with his goal 28 seconds before the quarter ended. Brett Pohlmeyer cut the Lions lead to 4-3, 2:02 into the second, but Saint Leo went on a three-goal run, making it 7-3, before Cody Martin scored with a man advantage, with 2:22 to go in the half. Jake Gilmour answered with a man-up goal, to double the Lions lead. The Panthers (6-5, 2...

Brandon Ziarno and Antwuan Haynes - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech football team gave their fans a glimpse of what the 2017 squad will look like, as they played their annual Spring game Friday night at Florida Tech Panther Stadium. The game was comprised of 85 plays, with the offense taking on the defense. The defense ultimately came out on top, 35-28. “I thought it was a fairly exciting scrimmage, had some big plays, had some long runs,” said head coach Steve Englehart. “I thought a lot of people did a lot of good things and there’s still a lot of things to work from, as well.” The defense was spotted 28 points to start the game and they could earn different combinations of points, depending on where they made stops and turnovers they forced. The offensive scoring system was conventional, but they had a long way to go to dig out of that hole. Running back Antwuan Haynes , who finished with 87 yards on 17 carries.got the offense on the b...

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...

Photo credit: James Ragan Photography With the Spring game just two days away, Sportslowdown.com sat down with Florida Tech Panthers head football coach Steve Englehart, to get his early thoughts on the Panthers 2017 season. With an 8-3 record, including five wins in the Gulf South Conference, the Panthers are coming off their first ever playoff appearance in 2016, the Panthers are primed to make another run through the Gulf South Conference and get back to the postseason in 2017. “Expectations are high as always, you wanna get out there and compete each and every week,” said Englehart. “Hopefully at the end of the season you’re sitting there with a chance to win the conference and go to the playoffs. My expectations haven’t changed from that since we started.” Englehart said from a philosophical standpoint, within the program, not much has changed, but he has added a team seminar to their Friday activities, dealing with character development and leadership develop...

Karina Suicava - Photo credit: James Ragan The Florida Tech softball team has been playing well as of late, but they ran into a buzz saw on Wednesday, losing to the fifth-ranked Saint Leo Lions 11-3 in game one and 7-0 in game two. The first game was picked up in the top of the first, after lightning forced the game to be suspended on Tuesday. With the sweep, the Lions run their win streak to 10 in a row, while Florida Tech had won two in a row. In game one, Saint Leo got on the board in the top of the second, when Alyssa Wash had an RBI double against Florida Tech starter Rachel Pence . The Lions would break things open in the third, with a seven-run outburst. After Karina Suicava made a great diving catch to rob Rachel Heath of a hit to start the inning, Pence walked Ciera Schumaker and Samantha Ohmie. After Brittany Creamer singled to load the bases. A walk and a hit by pitch made it 3-0 and after Pence got Wash on strikes, an RBI fielder’s choice by Sommer Pol...

Grant McKown - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers were riding high going into Saturday’s doubleheader against Tampa. They won Friday’s opener over the Spartans 14-8, sending Tampa to their second conference loss of the season. Unfortunately, Florida Tech couldn’t carry the momentum into Saturday, losing game one 6-2 and game two, 8-2. Florida Tech broke through in the third inning of game one, scoring both of their runs against Spartans starter David LeBron. Vincenzo Catanza singled and was sacrificed to second by Trent Masih . Grant McKown singled him home and McKown eventually came home on a sacrifice fly by John Sternagel . Tampa answered in the top of the fourth, scoring three times against Florida Tech starter Tyler Deel . Kevin Santa was hit by a pitch to start the inning and he got to trot home on a home run by Darren Miller. Andrew DiLacqua’s sac fly brought the third run home. They would score two more runs in the top of th...

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...

Rachel Pence - Photo credit: James Ragan Starting pitcher Lexie Storrer retired 20 of 23 Florida Tech batters on Friday, leading the Nova Southeastern Sharks to a 2-0 Sunshine State Conference win at Nancy Bottge Field. The Sharks (20-17) got on the board immediately, with a leadoff home run from Dana Edmundson, against Panthers starter Rachel Pence . Edmundson showed why she leads the team in hitting, sending one off the top of the right field wall that bounced over, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. An error and singles from Storrer and Alex Suzuki led to the Sharks second run and that was more than enough on this day. On the mound Storrer allowed one hit in her complete-game effort, giving up a single to Krista Patterson in the fourth inning. Hailey Leonard walked in the bottom of the first, but was erased on a caught stealing. The only other baserunner the Panthers had was Kaitlin Buchholz , who reached on an error in the fifth. Karina Suicava appeared to ...

David Wilson had two of the Panthers four hits on Tuesday - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography After taking two of three games over the weekend at home, the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish got another win over Florida Tech on Tuesday, beating the Panthers 7-1, at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. Tuesday’s game was a regional matchup, but it was a game the Panthers needed to win, after dropping the weekend series. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t put much together, getting just four hits against Sailfish pitching. The Panthers (14-11) had chances, with the Sailfish hurlers giving up 11 free passes. The problem for the Panthers was that they couldn’t push any of them across, leaving 13 on base. Florida Tech starter Grant Willcoxon had an up and down night over his five innings of work. He gave up seven hits and struck out seven, with only one of his three runs being earned. The first two runs he allowed in the second inning, were unearned, thanks to a fielding e...