Cody Martin’s Four Goals Lead Florida Tech Men’s Lacrosse Over No.20 Rollins On Senior Day

By  //  April 23, 2017

FIT clinches No. 2-seed in SSC Men's LAX Tournament

Florida Tech (7-6, 3-2 SSC) sent its seniors off with a victory in the final home game of their career Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers knocked off No. 20 Rollins (7-7, 2-3 SSC) 12-8 in Sunshine State Conference action. (FIT image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech (7-6, 3-2 SSC) sent its seniors off with a victory in the final home game of their career Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers knocked off No. 20 Rollins (7-7, 2-3 SSC) 12-8 in Sunshine State Conference action.

With the win, FIT clinched the 2-seed in next week’s SSC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament.

Cody Martin led the Panthers with four goals. Carson Clough finished with a goal and two assists, while Nick Wynne and Tyler Covey chipped in a goal and an assist each. Five other Panthers tallied goals in the contest.

Addison Abramson guided FIT’s defensive effort in between the restraining boxes with a game-high five caused turnovers and three ground balls.

Nate Menninger added five ground balls and a fast break goal. Ryan Land was impressive at the faceoff dot, going 11-of-18 with eight ground balls and a goal. Daniel Flock improved his season mark to 7-6 with 11 saves in the Panthers’ net.

FIT ended the matchup with an advantage in shots, 45-32, while Rollins took a narrow edge in ground balls, 47-45. The Panthers won the faceoff battle by corralling 15-of-24 draws.

Goals by Logan Sweeney and Ben Abell gave FIT a 2-0 lead with 9:10 left in the first quarter. Consecutive unassisted tallies by RC’s Greg Taicher made it a tie game at the end of the opening period.

A pair of scores by Martin and a goal by Land off a faceoff handed the Panthers a 5-2 advantage. Carson Buell and Justin Diamond cut FIT’s lead to one, but another goal by Martin pushed the Crimson and Gray’s edge to 6-4 at halftime.

A man-up goal by Wynne and a tally by Menninger gave FIT a 8-4 lead with 7:43 remaining in the third period. However, an unassisted goal by RC’s Dylan Bassham decreased the margin back to three.

Junior faceoff man Lance Pavlina in action. (FIT image)

The Panthers answered with a man-up goal by Martin from Clough, kicking off a 4-0 run that increased FIT’s advantage to 12-5 with 4:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.

A couple of late penalties by Florida Tech allowed the Tars to rally with three straight man-up goals, making the score 12-8. However, it was too little, too late as the Panthers ran out the rest of the clock to earn their third victory in league play.

Former Florida Tech Panther Standout T.J. Lowder Signs with Canada’s Winnipeg Blue BombersRelated Story:
Former Florida Tech Panther Standout T.J. Lowder Signs with Canada’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The 2017 SSC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament will be hosted by the regular season champion, Tampa.

The semifinals will take place Friday, Apr. 28 and the final is set for Sunday, Apr. 30. Due to tie breaker scenarios, FIT’s opponent in the semifinals will not be determined until Saturday evening.

Fans should stay tuned to FloridaTechSports.com for updated seeding and time of games.

CLICK HERE FOR FLORIDA TECH SPORTS