No. 15 Florida Tech Earns First Home Win, Defeats Davenport 17-13

Mollie Kaplan led Panthers with 6 points

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA (Florida Tech) – No. 15 Florida Tech earned its first home win of the season Monday, defeating Davenport by the score of 17-13 at Panther Stadium.

Mollie Kaplan led Tech with six points, on five goals and an assist, to go along with six draw controls, three caused turnovers, and two ground balls. Sam Schiano added four goals, three draw controls and a caused turnover.

Leah Dunn tallied four goals, and Alexis Townsend contributed two goals to the Panthers’ total. Kailee O’Brien recorded two assists, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Lexi Sheely scored her first collegiate goal in the win while also picking up three draw controls.

Brittney Embree and Olivia Going led the Florida Tech defense with two ground balls and two caused turnovers, apiece. Jenna Katrina finished with two ground balls and a caused turnover. Chloe Zador made four saves in the Panthers’ net on the way to earning her second win of the season.

Davenport got off to a quick start in the contest with two goals during the first four minutes.

Dunn got Tech on the board at the 24:05 mark of the half, sparking a 6-0 run that gave the Crimson & Gray a 6-2 lead with 9:50 left in the half.

Consecutive goals by DU, over a 30-second span, cut the margin to 6-4 with 8:34 to go before halftime.

Kaplan’s third and fourth goals of the first half increased Tech’s lead to 8-4 with less than three minutes remaining. Townsend added to the total with her first of the game to make it 9-4 at halftime.

After Taylor Ries opened the second half with a goal for DU. Tech responded with goals by Dunn, Aleah Fjelstad and Schiano to grow its advantage to 12-5 with 17:32 to go.

Davenport would fight its way back with an 8-3 run that brought the margin down to 15-13 with less than five minutes to go.

However, Schiano and Kaplan both hit the twine during the waning moments to seal the game for Tech and hand head coach McKenzie Rafferty her first home victory at the helm of the program.

Florida Tech finished with an advantage in shots (38-23) and ground balls (22-18), while also going 14-of-14 on clears in the game. DU was limited to 11-of-22 on its clear attempts but did win the battle for draw controls (20-11).

Next up, Florida Tech is set to host Queens (N.C.) on Sunday, Mar. 3, at Panther Stadium. Opening draw is set for 3 p.m.

For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team, visit FloridaTechSports.com.

CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS

Similar Stories