SAINT LEO, Fla. -- The Saint Leo men's lacrosse team had an incredible second half, but it wasn't enough to close the gap in Saturday's Sunshine State Conference (SSC) match-up. Florida Tech escaped with a 13-11 victory at University Turf Stadium.
Dylan Yonts led the Green and Gold with five points (3 goals, 2 assists), while freshman Jake Gilmour and sophomore Josh Kaufling each added two points. Gilmour turned in one goal and one assist, his fourth consecutive game with at least one goal and one assist. Kaufling scored a career high two goals in the third and fourth periods.
Florida Tech jumped to an early 5-2 lead in the first quarter, including two man-up goals in the third minute of the game after Will Cothron was called for an illegal body check after the games third faceoff. The Panthers scored first, before Sean Connolly scored his first goal of the season. The long stick midfielder picked up a ground ball off the faceoff and raced to the scoring box and scored. Yonts scored the only other Saint Leo goal halfway through the quarter.
The Panthers remained in control for much of the second quarter, outscoring the Lions 3-2 for an 8-4 halftime advantage. Matt Weller and Yonts each scored unassisted goals for the Lions only points in the period.
Saint Leo made some adjustments at the break, but the Panthers again outscored the Lions 3-2 in the third quarter. In the final seconds of the period, Jake Kavanagh wove through Panthers defenders and scored to spark the Saint Leo comeback.
Leo fired off three goals in six minutes to open the fourth quarter. On a 4-0 run, Saint Leo brought the score to 11-9. Yonts tossed one to Anthony Visintin before scoring an unassisted goal of his own but the Lions really came alive when defender Freddie Williams raced down the field and connected with Visintin for his first goal of the season.
Down two, both teams exchanged goals, before Florida Tech began to stall. Florida Tech's Zach Wynne scored his third goal of the game and gave the Panthers a 13-10 lead with 3:29 on the clock. Gilmour scored the final goal of the game with 10 seconds left on a pass from Yonts. Saint Leo outscored Florida Tech 5-2 in the final stanza.
Florida Tech led Saint Leo in all but one statistical category. The Panthers picked up 28 ground balls to Leos 26, and outshot Saint Leo 51-34. The Lions won 19-of-27 (.704) faceoffs, thanks to Cothron who went 15-of-22 (.682).
Dave Moore made 16 saves in 60 minutes of action against 29 shots faced.
The Lions take a break from SSC action for a two-game road swing over spring break. Saint Leo will travel to Pfeiffer Wednesday, March 18 and Wingate March 21. Saint Leo will return to University Turf Stadium for its final nonconference game of the season March 25 when it hosts Adams State.
