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PENSACOLA - The best defense in the country finally broke and it was Florida Southern that dented the armor. That defense was still good enough though. Behind two goals and one assist from Marcela Franco (all in the first half), West Florida withstood a charge by Florida Southern and held on for a 3-1 victory that kept the Argonauts undefeated through the first six games.
West Florida (5-0-1) scored on three of its first four shots, with two of those goals coming as a result of free kicks just outside the penalty box. The first came in the 11th minute when it appeared the Moccasins had stopped an Argonaut attack. A shot by Sheka Codner had sailed high over the crossbar, but the stunned Mocs were whistled for a foul, giving the Argos another chance. Franco made the most of it by scoring on the indirect free kick for a 1-0 lead.
Barely over a minute later Franco picked up an assist when she fed Jodi Galucci out of the right corner. Galucci's shot at the near post was true, and West Florida was quickly up 2-0.
"It was unfortunate we gave up two early goals," said coach Ben Strawbridge. "It forced us to change the way we played after that."
Midway through the first half Franco struck again. This time it was a direct free kick from 25 yards out that she drilled into the net for her eighth goal of the season.
That put West Florida up 3-0 at halftime, a somewhat deceptive score. The Argonauts had just seven shots to the Moccasins' three, and two of those seven came on the free kick goals. Two others came during the final two minutes of the half as the Mocs appeared to have equal possession for much of the first 45 minutes.
Florida Southern took charge in the second half by doubling its shot total in the first six minutes. The Mocs went on to hold a 9-4 advantage in the period and never let up on the attack.
The Mocs had two golden opportunities in the 63rd minute and turned the second one into a goal. After passing by Erin Hopkins and Linda Hoglund had threatened the goal and forced goalkeeper Courtney Jones into a save, the Mocs won the ball right back in the midfield. This time Hoglund found Hanna Jansson down the right side, and Jansson's shot from inside the box rolled inside the far post for the goal,
That goal was the first allowed by West Florida in six games this year. The Argonauts had allowed only 19 shots all season prior to Sunday when the Moccasins tested them with 12.
The Mocs had two more strong chances after the goal by Jansson but were unable to turn them into goals as the Argonauts held on to remain undefeated.
"We played an outstanding game today," said Strawbridge, "but if you don't convert your chances, you can't win games. Especially against a team like West Florida that's one of the best in the country and could be a national championship team. We had plenty of chances to get back in the game but just couldn't turn them into goals."
"I really liked the way we battled today and never gave up," he added.
Florida Southern will head home for its next game, a Friday night match against Liberty University at 5:00. It will be the first time the Moccasins have ever played a Division I school and it comes against the team Strawbridge played for and served as an assistant coach prior to his arrival at Florida Southern.
FSC   0  1  -  1
UWF 3  0  -  3
SCORING: UWF--Franco (Codner), 10:54; UWF--Galucci (Franco), 12:12; UWF--Franco (unassisted), 22:25; FSC--Jansson (Hoglund), 62:17. SHOTS: FSC 12, UWF 11. CORNER KICKS: FSC 1, UWF 4. SAVES: FSC 3 (Tangen Billing), UWF 2 (Jones). FOULS: FSC 11, UWF 17. CAUTIONS: Hopkins (FSC), 22:45; Morris (UWF) 84:58.
