FLORENCE, S.C. (Men’s Soccer) – In the closing minutes of Florida Tech’s season opener Saturday evening, senior Ryan Moon converted a penalty kick in double overtime to send the Panthers past Francis Marion by a 3-2 score at FMU Soccer Field.

With over a minute and a half remaining, a Panther on the near side of the field sent the ball into the box. David Tufft leaped up and headed the ball toward the goal, but it hit the hand of a Patriot defender. As a result, the referee issued a yellow card and a foul, while awarding Tech a penalty kick.

Moon blasted the ball past Francis Marion’s goalkeeper for what appeared to be the game winner until the referee blew off the goal as a result of a Panther entering the 18-yard box too soon. Despite having to take the penalty kick a second time, the Bideford, England native found the back of the net once more to give his team the one-goal victory.

“We’re obviously happy to get the win,” Tech head coach Robin Chan said. “It was a good win for us on the road. Francis Marion is a tough team to get a result against. I give them credit for playing hard and coming back in the second half. I was pleased with how our boys got themselves back into the game and got back on top. At the end of the day, I felt like we had the better of the chances.

“I give Ryan credit for beating the ‘keeper twice in that situation. It’s not easy to do that under that much pressure. All in all, I was happy to see us create a fair number of chances. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re pleased to earn today’s result.”

It did not take long for Tech to jump out to a 1-0 lead Saturday. In the sixth minute, redshirt freshman Gary Ogilvie found Ricardo Menendez in the Patriots’ box. As Francis Marion’s ‘keeper attempted to minimize the angle of Menendez’ shot, the true freshman chipped the ball over the opposition’s last line of defense for his first goal of his collegiate career.

Before the first half closed, Sam Ormsby fed a beautiful ball to a streaking Michael O’Farrell. O’Farrell trapped it and ripped it past the goalkeeper to give Tech a 2-0 lead.

But in the second half, Francis Marion countered with two goals of its own. Alex Blandin scored his first of the year in the 49th minute and with less than 20 minutes to play in regulation, Jeran Nanthakumar knotted the game at two.

In the first overtime period, Menendez nearly recorded an assist off a well-placed ball to O’Farrell, however, the Patriots’ keeper dove to his left to prevent the ball from crossing the goal line.

If it was not for Panther goalkeeper Derrick Hackett’s quick reflexes, the Patriots could have stole the victory in the second overtime period. With less than five minutes on the clock, Travis Bally attempted to place the ball over Hackett’s head, but the junior deflected it off the crossbar to keep the game tied at two.

Hackett faced just five shots on the day as he picked up his first win of the season.

Tech outshot Francis Marion 16-5 and it also held the edge in corner kicks, 6-3.

The Panthers will have a chance to recharge their batteries on Sunday before they travel to Coker to take on the Cobras Monday at 12 p.m.

For complete coverage of Florida Tech men’s soccer, please visit www.floridatechsports.com.