MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Florida Tech Panthers (1-0) opened on a 5-0 run and added another 5-0 flurry in the third quarter to power a 20-6 win over the Railsplitters (0-1) in the opening game of the 2017 season on Saturday morning at VTC Turf Field.
 
Lincoln Memorial went scoreless in the opening quarter and didn't notch its first goal until the 10:45 mark of the second, while the Panthers set the tone from start to finish and tallied at least five goals in three of the match's four quarters, including an eight-goal outburst in the fourth. It marked just the second time in program history that the Railsplitters have allowed at least 20 goals and the first since Queens hit that mark on February 27, 2016.
 
Nick Wynne, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, finished with five goals and three assists to lead the Florida Tech attack in his return, and he scored three goals in the first quarter alone. The last of those three goals came with 37 seconds left in the first, while Addison Abramson added another with eight ticks remaining to put the Panthers ahead 5-0 after 15 minutes of action.
 
The Railsplitters briefly got things moving back in the right direction early in the second quarter, as goals from Adam Golia (Victoria, British Columbia) and Jared Courchene (Sagkeeng, Manitoba) cut the deficit to 5-2, but Florida Tech responded with a pair of goals to extend it back to 7-2. Hunter Clark (Marietta, Ga.) netted the first goal of his career with 14 seconds left in the half to send LMU into the break trailing 7-3.
 
However, Florida Tech replicated its first-quarter performance in the third, outscoring the Railsplitters 5-0 to put the game out of reach. All five Panther goals came from a different source, while Wynne had an assist and a score in the quarter.
 
Golia picked up his second goal of the match at the 12:43 mark of the final quarter and Billy Kopsky (Smithtown, N.Y.) scored his first goal of the season a little over a minute later, but Florida Tech ended the fourth on an 8-1 run. That included three goals in the final two minutes of regulation.
 
All told, 16 different players registered at least one point in the match for the Panthers, while six had at least three. Kopsky and Golia powered the LMU attack with two goals apiece, while freshman Robert Tucker (Wantagh, N.Y.) had the team's only assist.
 
Florida Tech outshot the Railsplitters in every quarter and finished with a 55-21 edge in that department. That was highlighted by a dominant 18-1 margin in the first and a 14-5 advantage in the third.
 
Lincoln Memorial went 13-for-20 on clearance opportunities and turned the ball over 22 times. The Panthers also accounted for a 45-21 edge in groundball recoveries and won 18 of the match's 29 face-offs.
 
Senior goalie Joe Medel (Virginia Beach, Va.) made 14 saves and allowed 16 goals in 55 minutes of work for the Railsplitters. Florida Tech's Daniel Flock – a transfer from Vermont – made eight saves and allowed just six goals to earn the win for the Panthers.
 
The Railsplitters make their home debut on Saturday, February 18 when they welcome the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers to town for a 1 p.m. start. The Chargers opened their season on Saturday as well with a home game against North Greenville.