Sports Lowdown

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...

Caroline Dunleavy - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers women’s lacrosse team jumped on the 11 th ranked East Stroudsburg Warriors early Friday and weathered a late charge, to win their first ever NCAA tournament game, 17-10. The win sets up a third meeting with #1 ranked Florida Southern on Saturday. The sixth-ranked Panthers, who came in with a record of 13-3, were led by Caroline Dunleavy , who scored seven goals and added four assists. Sam Schiano and Allie Modica each had a hat trick for the Panthers. The game started pretty even, with the teams trading the first four goals. Allie Modica and Caroline Dunleavy scored for Florida Tech, while Alicia Stratten scored both goals for the Warriors. She would go on to score all four first half goals for East Stroudsburg, but the Panthers poured it on offensively, in between her tallies. With the game tied at two, the Panthers got goals from Sam Schiano, Dunleavy Modica and Schiano again, ...

Sam Schiano - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Women’s lacrosse team has had a flare for the dramatic this season, but on Sunday, they just couldn’t find their way toward a comeback in the Sunshine State Conference title game, losing to defending SSC and NCAA champion Florida Southern, 20-12. It was the first trip to the championship game for the Panthers, who are in their third year as a program under Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year Corinne Desrosiers. She won the award for the second consecutive year, earlier this week. They have grown by leaps and bounds just from last season to this one, but on Sunday, the Moccasins took control early and the Panthers could not any kind of sustained run, to swing the momentum. Florida Southern (19-2) took the lead 58 seconds into the game on a goal by Kendall Kerge. She beat Florida Tech goalie Stephanie Stuart 58 seconds into the game and that sparked a 6-0 run by the Mocs. Stuart would come...

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...

Sara Grenier - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The ninth-ranked Florida Tech Panthers finished their 2017 regular season with a huge 14-10 victory over the sixth-ranked Rollins Tars on Thursday night, in Winter Haven. Sara Grenier continued her hot hand, leading the Panthers with four goals. Allie Modica , Caroline Dunleavy , and Lauren Tybor all had a hat trick for the visitors, who scored nine goals in the second half, to secure the come-from-behind victory. Rollins took control early, scoring five goals on their first six shots against Florida Tech goalie Stephanie Stuart . Maggie Dougherty scored the first two goals for Rollins and Kallie German made it 3-0, with 23:36 to go in the first half. Florida Tech got on the board with 21:53 to go, thanks to a goal from Dunleavy, as she beat Rollins goalie Malorie Olin. Goals by Hannah Ashton and Megan Cury made it a 5-1 game, before Grenier and Modica got back-to-back tallies for the Panthers to make it a 5-3 ...

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...

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. ...