MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-11 decision on the road at No. 24 Florida Tech Monday night from Panther Stadium.
 
The Rock (1-1) trailed Florida Tech (5-3) 6-2 early in the first half, but recovered from the slow start and closed the half with a furious rally to tie the score at 8-8. That run was capped by a goal on a rebound from Katie Dlugosz as time expired in the period.
 
Slippery Rock opened the second half with two straight goals to lead 10-8 with just under 23 minutes to play, but Florida Tech responded with an 8-0 run to open up a 16-10 lead that SRU could never recover from.
 
Monday night's game marked the second straight against a nationally ranked opponent for Slippery Rock, which opened the year with a 7-4 win over then 22nd ranked Tiffin. The road doesn't get any easier in the near future as SRU will visit No. 3 Florida Southern Wednesday before traveling to No. 4 West Chester Saturday.
 
Florida Tech finished the game with a 26-22 edge in total shots and advantages of 23-16 in shots on goal and 25-15 in ground balls. Both teams were credited with 14 draw controls. SRU was whistled for a total of 38 fouls compared to just 11 for the Panthers.
 
Slippery Rock got two goals each from Tori Penders, Katie Dlugosz, Kelsey Thoensen and Emily Benham. Benham also added two assists to lead the way with four points, while Penders had one assist.
 
ShyAnne Toomer, Sami Gentzler and Molly Buettner all scored one goal to cap the scorers for The Rock.
 
Haley Barrett took the loss in goal after recording seven saves.
 
Florida Tech got seven points from Leah Dunn, who finished with five goals and two assists. Sam Schiano added six points with three goals and three assists and Chloe Zador earned the in in goal with five saves.
 
Slippery Rock will stay in central Florida during spring break and will visit No. 3 Florida Southern Wednesday for a 4 p.m. game.
 
 

To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).