Mount Olive Downs FIT In Men’s Lacrosse
By Florida Tech // March 11, 2013
Panthers Host Molloy On Tuesday In Melbourne
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – It did not look like a first-ever meeting between Florida Tech and Mount Olive on Saturday. The teams battled like two old rivals, combining for 15 total penalties. The Trojans scored six of the final seven goals to leave Melbourne with a 19-11 victory.
Mount Olive (3-3) opened with the game’s first goal, but freshman Alex Carlson scored 19 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1.
Florida Tech (4-3) cut the deficit to 3-2 with 8:12 left in the first quarter when freshman Nick Gardner netted his 12th goal of the season on a pass from sophomore Andrew Conley. But then the Trojans went on a run.
Mount Olive scored its first of three man-up goals with 6:58 remaining in the first quarter, and then scored four more goals over the next six minutes to take an 8-2 lead. The Trojans were 2-for-3 on man-up opportunities in the quarter.
The Panthers found themselves down 10-3 with 10:43 left in the second quarter before sophomore Ryan Bailey began FIT’s charge. Bailey scored his fifth goal of the season on a pass from freshman Brian Bacarella.
Conley followed with his first goal of the game to cut Mount Olive’s lead to 10-5. One minute later, Carlson found Bacarella for his 10th goal of the season. Then Conley found the second quarter’s final goal with 3:53 remaining to cut the Trojan’s lead to 10-7 at halftime.
The first half only saw four penalties, but then it got physical in the second half.
Mount Olive opened the third quarter with two quick goals to push its lead to 12-7, but Gardner tallied his second goal of the game to bring the Panthers back within four goals.
The Trojans scored their third man-up goal with 10:11 in the third to take a 13-8 lead, but then took a two-minute non-releasable crosscheck to the face penalty two minutes later.
Conley made them pay, scoring two unassisted goals in a span of 24 second to cut the deficit to 13-10 with 7:34 left in the third.
Mount Olive responded with a man-down goal five minutes later. The Trojans were charged with three consecutive penalties before the end of the third quarter.
The Trojans pushed their lead to 17-10, with three more goals, before taking a second two-minute non-releasable crosscheck to the face penalty with 5:36 left in the fourth quarter.
Again, Conley found the back of the net. Sophomore Mike Marshner set up Conley for his fifth goal of the game—third man-up–with cut the deficit to 17-11. But the Panthers were not able to find another score.
Mount Olive closed out the game with a second man-down goal and an even-strength goal to leave Melbourne with a 19-11 victory.
The second half saw 11 penalties, including six in the final quarter. The Trojans were 3-for-9 in man-up opportunities, while FIT was 3-for-6.
Conley and Mount Olive’s Cameron Walsh both finished with a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists. Gardner collected his fourth hat trick of the season.
The Panthers will welcome No. 12 Molloy to Hustler Stadium on Tuesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. to cap their five-game homestand.
