Taicher Nets Career High as Tars Fall to FIT

Rollins (7-7, 2-3 SSC)

8 -

12

FIT (7-6, 3-2 SSC)

Box Score

MELBOURNE, Fla. (April 22, 2017) - Rollins sophomore attackman Greg Taicher earned two career highs on the afternoon with five goals and eight ground balls as the men's lacrosse team fell to Florida Tech by a final score of 12-8. The Tars close out their 2017 regular season campaign with a record of 7-7 and 2-3 in the Sunshine State Conference, while the Panthers end their regular season slate with a mark of 7-6 and 3-2 in SSC action.

Behind Taicher's career day, Justin Diamond scored two points with one goal and one assist, while Tommy Keane matched Diamond in points with two assists on the afternoon. Carson Buell and Dylan Bassham closed out the goal count on the afternoon with one apiece, while Blake Buell and Connor Ashton dished out one assist each. Taicher led the team in ground balls with eight, followed by Lucas Brush with five, and Diamond and Dalton LeMaster with four apiece. Leading the team in caused turnovers was long stick midfielder Andrew Matthews with two. In goal, Ty Wedekind played a full 60 minutes facing 45 shots from the Panthers and earning 14 saves. On the faceoff, Trey LaPorta won 6-of-16, while Matthews won 3-of-5 attempts.

The Panthers saw a team high four goals from Cody Martin, with Carson Clough close behind in points with three as he notched one goal and a team best two assists. Nick Wynne and Tyler Covey tallied one goal and one assist each, while Ben Abell, Nate Menninger, Ryan Land, Dylan Riley, and Logan Sweeney each scored once on the day. Austen Zugelter and Reid Chaconas closed out FIT's scoring efforts on the afternoon, with each earning one assist. Clough led the team in ground balls with nine, followed closely by Land with eight. Defensively, Addison Abramson caused a game high five turnovers. At the faceoff-x, Land won 11-of-18 attempts, while Lance Pavlina won 4-of-6. Daniel Flock played a full game in goal, facing 32 shots and setting aside 11 while allowing eight goals.

HIGHLIGHTS AND QUARTER-BY-QUARTER ANALYSIS
First Quarter l The Panthers opened up with a two goal lead in the first six minutes of action, but the Tars got on the board at the 4:47 mark thanks to an unassisted goal by Taicher. Taicher again placed a shot in goal with just 57 seconds left in the period to pull Rollins even with Florida Tech to close out the first quarter with a score of 2-2.

Second Quarter l Florida Tech scored three straight to take a 5-2 lead with 5:59 to go in the second quarter, but C. Buell broke the Panthers' scoring streak with a goal off of an assist by Ashton with 3:58 on the clock to set the score at 5-3. Diamond pulled the Tars to within one a minute later, scoring thanks to an assist by B. Buell to move the score to 5-4, but a goal by FIT's Martin 43 seconds later closed out the second stanza with the Panthers holding onto a 6-4 lead entering into the break.

Third Quarter l The Panthers extended their lead to four to open the third quarter, netting two straight to take an 8-4 lead with 7:43 on the clock, but Bassham ripped a shot between the pipes to break the run and give the Tars their fifth goal of the game at the 6:04 mark. Florida Tech closed out the third quarter with one last goal, setting the score at 9-5 entering into the final period.

Fourth Quarter l Florida Tech pulled ahead to a seven goal advantage thanks to three straight goals throughout the fourth quarter to set the score at 12-5 with 4:48 to play. But the Tars were not about to back down and staged a comeback bid beginning with a man-up goal by Taicher thanks to an assist by Keane with 3:26 to play. Taicher again found the back of the net on a man-up goal 13 seconds later off of an assist by Diamond to pull the Tars to within five, 12-7, and repeated his success with a third-straight man-up goal two minutes later off of another assist by Keane with 1:12 to play. Despite the Tars' best efforts, they were unable to find the back of the net as the seconds ticked off the clock, closing out the contest with a final score of 12-8.

GAME NOTES

• Wedekind earned his fourth start of the season, and matched a career high in saves with 14 on the day.
• The Tars lead the all-time series with Florida Tech, 4-3
• Taicher netted a new career high in goals (5) and ground balls (8) in a game
• Last time the two teams met in action was on April 16, 2016, where Rollins claimed the 11-9 victory at home in Winter Park.
• Rollins is 4-2 on the season when playing true away contests.
• With 38 assists in his career, senior Carson Buell is just four assists away from tying the program record in All-Time Assists. Buell needs to dish out five more assists to overtake 2016 graduate Morgan Baker, who closed out his career with 42.

NEXT UP FOR THE TARS
Tars now await news on final Sunshine State Conference Tournament pairings, with the hopes of returning to action in the Tournament Semifinals on Friday, April 28. This season's tournament will be hosted by regular season champion, University of Tampa. With one SSC game remaining, the Tars will watch at Lynn faces off against Florida Southern on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. A Florida Southern win would ensure a spot for the Tars in the tournament as the No. 4 seed, while a victory by Lynn would create a three-way tie for the final two slots, and would require a coin flip to determine who will advance to the semifinals. More information will be posted on RollinsSports.com as it becomes available.

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