Sports Lowdown

Josh Thomas - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers led twice on Tuesday night only to drop a 4-2 decision to the Rollins College Tars in a late-season Sunshine State Conference match. This was the second consecutive loss for the Panthers, who fell to 9-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference. For the Tars, who were celebrating senior night, they got a much-needed victory, improving to 9-4-1, including 6-4 in the conference.   The night got off to a great start for the Panthers, who caught Rollins back on the heels early and took advantage of a couple Tars turnovers. The last of those turned into a Josh Thomas steal and he found Jan Hlavaca , on a cross, who tapped it past Tars' goalie Drew Trautmann , giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead 2:03 into the contest.   The Florida Tech defense held up well for much of the first half, but with about 10 minutes left, the home team was awarded a free-kick and although Luuk Teurlinx made the initial ch...

Jan Hlavica   - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers (9-3, 6-2 SSC) erased a two-goal deficit in the second half Saturday, only to have the Spartans Felipe DeSousa score his second goal of the night with 1:16 remaining in the contest, giving host Tampa a 3-2 victory.   The game-winner was a bookend goal for DeSousa who got the scoring started just 7:55 into the match, giving his team an early 1-0 lead.   Tampa took six shots in that first half, with Florida Tech goalie Chris Page making two saves on three shots on goal. Tampa keeper Jake Richards was only forced to make one save on four Florida Tech shots.   The Spartans (6-3-2, 5-2-2 SSC) got their second goal of the first half off the foot of Viktor Strand with 32:34 having elapsed.   The Panthers stormed back in the second half, taking 12 shots and converting on two of them. Just over 14 minutes into the stanza, Josh Thomas took his third corner in a short ...

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 .   ...

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...