Home » Florida Tech’s Keira McCarthy And Manny Abad Selected First Mike Erdman Auto Student-Athletes Of Week

Florida Tech’s Keira McCarthy And Manny Abad Selected First Mike Erdman Auto Student-Athletes Of Week

By  //  September 7, 2016

Panthers home opener Saturday at 7 p.m.

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Women’s soccer’s Keira McCarthy and football’s Manny Abad have been selected as the first Mike Erdman Auto Group Student-Athletes of the Week for the 2016-17 season. (FIT Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Women’s soccer’s Keira McCarthy and football’s Manny Abad have been selected as the first Mike Erdman Auto Group Student-Athletes of the Week for the 2016-17 season.

Picking up where she left off after finishing her freshman campaign ranked third in the Sunshine State Conference in goals scored (11), McCarthy propelled the Panthers to a notable 2-1 overtime victory over West Florida on the opening weekend of the 2016 season.

Florida Tech picked up a 2-0 shutout in the season opener just two days prior against Texas A&M-Commerce, but found itself in a much stiffer contest against the Argonauts. Trailing 1-0, the former Melbourne High School standout evened up the match in the 51st minute, scoring from a tough angle in the box.

Still knotted up at 1-1 in the first overtime, McCarthy rose to the occasion yet again, notching the timely golden goal on a sliding left-footed strike to help the Panthers improve to 2-0 early in the season. Last Sunday’s performance marked McCarthy’s fifth multi-goal effort in just her 17thcareer match at Florida Tech.

Redshirt Senior Manny Abad is a key fixture on an FIT defense expected to make a lot of noise in the Gulf Soouth Conference, a.k.a, the SEC of D2 Fottball (FIT Image)
Redshirt Senior Manny Abad is a key fixture on an FIT defense expected to make a lot of noise in the Gulf South Conference, a.k.a, the SEC of D2 football (FIT Image)

Abad did a little of everything in Florida Tech’s 42-28 victory in the opening week at Newberry.

The redshirt-senior corner recorded seven total tackles to go along with an interception and a forced fumble. As a whole, the Florida Tech defense created six turnovers in the win, including a whopping five in the second half to help the Panthers earn some payback after suffering losses to the Wolves in both 2013 and 2015.

Florida Tech cracked the American Football Coaches Association Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history on Monday, coming in at No. 22.

McCarthy and Florida Tech will return to the pitch this Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET for a neutral site contest against Christian Brothers.

Florida Tech Ranked No. 22 In Latest Coaches Poll, Takes On Mississippi College Saturday At HomeRelated Story:
Florida Tech Ranked No. 22 In Latest Coaches Poll, Takes On Mississippi College Saturday At Home

Meanwhile, Abad and the football team will make its home debut Saturday at 7 p.m. ET in a Gulf South Conference bout with Mississippi College.

Space Coast Daily will have complete coverage of Saturday’s home opener, including a preview, recap and Facebook Live posts before during and following the contest.

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