SAINT LEO, Fla. – After senior Fiona McLaughlin tied a career-best and a program record of seven goals, the 14th-ranked Saint Leo women's lacrosse team earned a 15-12 win over Florida Tech on Tuesday night in Sunshine State Conference (SSC) action.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before freshmen Briana Bellando and Natalie Jones on player-up opportunities to tie the game at 2-2, however, Florida Tech tallied of pair of goals to close out the first quarter and lead by a 4-2 margin heading into the second frame.

McLaughlin ignited a six-goal run for the Lions to claim a 7-4 advantage as sophomores Jana Nuss and Sophia Wood were able to find the back of the net during the scoring frenzy. The Panthers answered with two goals to end the quarter as the Green and Gold held a slight 7-6 lead at halftime.

Although Florida Tech scored first in the third quarter, Saint Leo countered with a trio of goals, two of which came from McLaughlin to give the Lions a 10-7 edge. The Panthers trimmed their deficit to 10-9 before junior Emma Hayhurst laced a goal off a dish from senior Cassidy Passaro. Saint Leo scored the following four goals, all of which were in player-up situations while McLaughlin tallied three of them as she surpassed the 200 career point mark in the process while junior Maria Palomba registered the other to give the Lions a 15-9 cushion. In the last one minute and 30 seconds, Florida Tech laced three consecutive goals, however, the Green and Gold were still able to hold the Panthers at bay and secure the victory, 15-12.

McLaughlin tied the program record and tied a career-high with seven goals in addition to being the only player in program history to tally 200 career points. Nuss posted two goals and a pair of assists while Passaro registered four assists. Wood notched two goals. Both Jones and Palomba recorded one goal and one assist while Hayhurst and Bellando tallied one goal each. Palomba also collected eight draw controls while Hayhurst tallied five. Sophomore Parker Surace and freshman Katie Lind registered three groundballs while Lind also caused two turnovers. In the net, sophomore Jessica Harclerode posted 11 saves in the complete-game effort to earn the win, additionally, Harclerode recorded her 300th save during the contest and currently has 304 career saves which ranks in the top-three in program history.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, April 20 as they host a first-round match-up of the SSC Championship against the six-seeded Embry-Riddle Eagles at noon.