MELBOURNE, Fla. (April 22, 2023) – The fifth-ranked Rollins men's lacrosse team completed a perfect conference regular season on Saturday with a 15-12 win at Florida Tech to clinch the program's first-ever SSC Regular Season Championship. The Tars close the regular season at 13-1 overall, 7-0 in SSC play, while the Panthers end the year at 7-7, 3-4 in conference games.
Jack Johnstone set a career high with seven goals while
Mikey Berkman equaled his season high with seven points on a goal and six assists.
Logan Myers added three goals and an assist and
Grant Hansen chipped in with three goals. Shahé Katchadurian (12-1) got the win in goal, stopping 13 of the 25 shots he faced.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter
- Florida Tech scored three of the first four goals, with Myers the only Tar to get on the board early as the Panthers jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
- Johnstone then scored twice in the span of 2:21 to tie things up and Myers found the net in the closing seconds of the quarter to put the Tars up 4-3 after one period.
Second Quarter
- Johnstone opened the scoring in the second to make it 5-3, but Florida Tech rattled off three straight goals to go up 6-5 at the half.
Third Quarter
- The Panthers scored seven seconds into the third quarter and again a few minutes later to take an 8-5 lead, their biggest lead of the day.
- Rollins proceeded to pour in nine straight goals over the course of just over 15 minutes, with Johnstone and Hansen accounting for three goals each during that run.
- Hansen's goal with 35 seconds on the clock was the final tally of the third quarter, putting the Tars up 10-8.
Fourth Quarter
- Johnstone opened the scoring in the fourth as the Tars continued on their 9-0 run, which was capped by a Berkman goal at the 7:39 mark to put Rollins ahead, 14-8.
- The Panthers put home four goals in the final 7:03, with Johnstone also scoring his seventh of the day during that span, as the Tars easily held on for the 15-12 win.
UP NEXT:
As conference champions, the Tars have earned the No. 1 seed in next week's SSC Championship, and with it, the right to host a semifinal game and potentially the championship game, should Rollins advance. First up will be a semifinal matchup with Saint Leo on Thursday, April 27 at 8 p.m.
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