Panthers Women’s Lacrosse Cruise Past Eagles in Season Opener 16-8
By Florida Tech // February 16, 2020
Aleah Fjelstad led with four goals
SPARKS, MARYLAND – Florida Tech scored nine first-half goals and cruised to a season-opening 16-8 victory over Post University on Saturday night at US Lacrosse Headquarters’ Tierney Field.
Seven different players scored goals for the Panthers in the win. Aleah Fjelstad led the way with four goals, two assists and four ground balls. Alexis Townsend tallied three goals and two assists while picking up five ground balls. Mollie Kaplan recorded three goals and one assist to go along with nine draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Madison Savje finished with two goals and two assists while Kailee O’Brien added two goals, an assist and six ground balls. Caroline MacLeod contributed one goal, an assist and five draw controls, and Morgan Leonard scored one goal.
Olivia Going guided the Panther defense with four caused turnovers and two ground balls. Ashley Walter recorded two caused turnovers. Madison Fields got the start in goal and recorded four saves. Chloe Zador came in during the second half and finished with one save.
Florida Tech ended the contest with an advantage in shots (39-17), ground balls (27-23), draw controls (17-9) and caused turnovers (12-1). The Panthers were successful on 15-of-16 clear attempts compared to 16-of-19 for Post.
It did not take long for the Panthers to get their first tally of the season as Fjelstad netted an unassisted goal 52 seconds after the opening draw. The Minnesota-product found the back of the net again at the 28:15 mark off an assist from Townsend to put Tech up 2-0. O’Brien then scored her first of the year to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.
A goal by Post with 25:45 left in the first half made the score 3-1. Tech responded with a 4-0 run starting with an unassisted goal by Kaplan. Fjelstad then capped off her first-half hat trick off an assist from O’Brien with 16:23 left. Leonard recorded her first goal as a Panther to make the score 6-1 before Townsend assisted Kaplan for her second goal with 13:38 to go in the first half.
After the Eagles made the score 7-2, Fjelstad helped Kaplan complete her first-half hat trick to get the Panthers’ lead back to six with 9:50 remaining. Post outscored Tech 2-1 the rest of the half with the one Panther goal coming from Savje off an assist from MacLeod.
The Eagles cut the Tech’s lead to 9-5 with 23:41 left in regulation. Fjelstad got her fourth goal off an assist from Savje with 21:27 to go. Townsend then scored her first of the season less than a minute later to push the lead to 11-5.
Post found the back of the net with 16:32 remaining to make the score 11-6 but the Panthers would answer with another 3-0 run. O’Brien kicked off the scoring from an assist by Savje before Townsend scored consecutive goals, the second off a pass from Kaplan, to make it 14-6 with 11:17 left on the clock.
Similar to the first half, the Eagles closed the second netting two of the final three goals of the game. An unassisted effort by MacLeod capped Florida Tech’s scoring with 5:06 to go as the Panthers walked away with an eight-goal victory to start the season.
The Crimson & Gray will have little time to enjoy the win as Florida Tech is back in action Sunday with a non-conference matchup with Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sailfish defeated Post 19-6 Friday night. The showdown between Tech and PBA is set to begin at 4 p.m. at US Lacrosse’s Tierney Field.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech women’s lacrosse team, visit FloridaTechSports.com.
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