DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - The Embry-Riddle men's lacrosse team nearly came away with their first Sunshine State Conference win of the season on Wednesday, but Florida Tech was able to hold off the Eagles 11-7. ERAU (4-9, 0-6 SSC) equaled the Panthers (7-5, 3-2 SSC) with 39 shots, but could only manage two goals in the second half against Tech goalkeeper Jax Francisco.

Pete Abbes and Coleman Jacobs both registered hat tricks for the Blue and Gold, but only Parker Liposky, scoring his first goal of the year, joined them in the Embry-Riddle goal column.

It was Jacobs who scored the game's first goal, a snipe from more than 10 yards out off a feed from Abbes, and the 1-0 lead stood for five minutes before the Panthers scored three quick ones in succession in the span of 67 seconds to take a 3-1 advantage.

Liposky got his first score of 2023 at the 5:05 mark, receiving a pass from Isaiah Hines and beating Francisco to trim the Eagle deficit to just one goal. 

The visitors regained a two-goal advantage a minute later, and then with 73 seconds to go in the first, pushed their advantage to 5-2.

ERAU nearly got a goal in the dying seconds, but Jacobs' shot was blocked and Hines' was wide.

Starting the second Abbes picked up his first goal of the afternoon, but it was quickly answered by two from the Panthers.

Around the three minute mark of the second the Eagles took over, beginning with Abbes' second of the day thanks to a great pass from Jacobs, and then with just 17 seconds before the halftime buzzer, Jacobs again found Abbes and the Eagles went into the break down just two goals, 7-5.

Out of the half Jacobs got the hosts within one with his 32nd score of the season a few minutes into the third quarter. ERAU had a chance to tie it a few moments later, but a turnover gave the ball to the Panthers and they took advantage, scoring their eighth of the night to regain a two-goal cushion.

FT scored once more in the quarter before both defenses and goalies took over, with neither team scoring over the final seven-plus minutes.

The Panthers grabbed some momentum by scoring quickly into the fourth, going up 10-6 before Jacobs completed his hat trick at the 10:42 mark. However, that was the final goal the hosts would register in the game with ERAU's final 14 shots going for naught.

Neither team did well in extra man chances, combining to go 0-for-5.

Carter Groezinger made 12 saves in net for the Blue and Gold, while Francisco came up with 13 stops.

The Eagles host Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, April 15 for Senior Day at 1 p.m.