Box Score MELBOURNE – With Eva Banton scoring twice, and Courtney Hueston picking up a goal and an assist, Florida Tech did all of its scoring in the second half to take a 3-0 win over Florida Southern on Saturday.
The match was scoreless until the 58th minute when Banton notched her first goal of the evening, and Hueston followed with hers four minutes later. Banton collected her second goal with 25 minutes remaining in the game before the Panthers survived a couple of close calls by senior Jackie Metz (Vero Beach, Fla.) and freshman Izzy Loyd (Melbourne, Fla.) that nearly got the Moccasins back within one in a very short time.
The Moccasins had the better of it in the opening minutes of the game with Metz and freshman Abby Bravo(Clearwater, Fla.) forcing Florida Tech goalkeeper Julia Kantor into two early saves. Meanwhile, Florida Southern senior goalkeeper Erin Moseley (Jacksonville, Fla.) kept Florida Tech off the board with four first-half saves.
Banton broke the deadlock at the 57:54 mark by taking a cross from Hueston out of the right corner and sending a shot into the upper corner of the net from 18 yards out for her third goal of the year.
After the Panthers had gone ahead 3-0, a header by Metz in the 67th minute and a strong shot by Loyd in the 69th that forced Kantor into a tough save nearly got the Moccasins two goals. The Mocs then got a pair of shots from senior Kirra Rainbow in the final six minutes, but the Panthers escaped for their sixth shutout of the season.
All of those shutouts have been posted by Kantor, who made four saves to get the clean sheet on Saturday, and Moseley made 10 for the Moccasins.
With the win, Florida Tech improves to 6-7-1 overall and 3-4 in the Sunshine State Conference, while Florida Southern falls to 4-6-3 overall and 0-6 in the SSC.
Florida Southern's next game will be Wednesday night, which will also be its final home game of 2014, when it hosts Saint Leo with a 7 p.m. kickoff.
