WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's lacrosse team hosted the Florida Tech Panthers inside the PBA Lacrosse field on Wednesday night. The Sailfish kept up with the Panthers in the first three quarters of the game. The two teams were tied, 13-13, entering the last frame. In the last quarter, the Panthers scored four consecutive goals and PBA was defeated, 18-15.
PBA was led by Rachel Delate's five goals and an assist in the game. Olivia Larges finished the game with four goals, followed by Annika Limpert's three goals. Goalie Sydney Luber made seven saves during the game, a 35 save percentage.
PBA entered the game looking to secure its first conference win of the season. The 'Fish set themselves up for a challenge early in the game when they were down 4-1 after less than five minutes played. With 8:31 left of the quarter, Delate netted her first goal in the game when she attacked from behind the cage. In the next attack, Delate repeated herself and scored another goal after a run past a couple of defenders, tightening the score to 4-3. With eight minutes left of the first quarter, goalie Luber subbed in for PBA and saved the first shot against her. Luber's successful night in goal along with Larges' first goal of the game kept the score close in the first quarter.
The second frame started with a goal from the Panthers, who extended their lead to 7-4. Delate responded to the Panthers' goal by scoring on her free position attempt in PBA's first attack of the period. A few minutes later, Delate had another free position where she successfully shot between the goalie's legs, closing the gap to 8-6. With eight minutes left of the quarter, Taryn Thompson gave the 'Fish a one-point deficit, causing the Panthers to take a timeout. The Panthers followed up with four goals in the quarter, while the Sailfish scored two more. The 'Fish entered the halftime break being short, 12-8.
The Sailfish came out strong in the third quarter. Larges scored on PBA's first possession by running inside the crease and striking into the net. She followed up with two more goals within the first five minutes of the frame. The Sailfish could tighten the score, 12-11, thanks to Larges goals and Luber's saves in goal. PBA was strong defensively in the third quarter, keeping Florida Tech from scoring within the first 12 minutes of the frame. With three minutes left, the Panthers were given a free position attempt which they scored from. PBA won the draw after the goal where Delate scored her last goal of the game from another free position. Limpert concluded PBA's strong quarter by running into the crease where she received a pass from Arianna Tribble and netted in the cage.
The teams were tied, 13-13, entering the last period. A 4-0 run by Florida Tech at the beginning of the frame put PBA in a challenging position for the rest of the game. PBA was down 17-13 with less than ten minutes to play. Allie Truby's goal from a man-up situation in the end closed the gap a bit for the 'Fish who fell short in the game, 18-15.
The Sailfish were even to the Panthers in the draw controls of the game, earning 18 compared to the Panther's 19. Both teams made 3-for-5 of their free-position shots. The 'Fish also had 14 shots on goal of its 23 attempts.
The Palm Beach Atlantic women's lacrosse team will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Daytona Beach to face the SSC foe Embry-Riddle Eagles at 12:00 p.m. (EST).
