Tars Take the Title With 3-0 Win Over Moccasins

LAKELAND â€" For the second year in a row, the Sunshine State Conference regular season title came down to a game between Rollins and Florida Southern; and for the second year in a row, Rollins came out on top. The 8th-ranked Tars won their second straight league championship by defeating the Moccasins, 3-0, earning the top seed in next week’s SSC Tournament and the right to host both the semifinals and championship game.

The loss kept Florida Southern (10-6-1, 6-2) in third place in the standings, but the Moccasins will still host a first-round game in the tournament for the first time ever. Lynn University will be the opponent on Tuesday night, as the Knights qualified with a 2-0 win over Barry in their final game of the regular season.

The Tars (13-1-2, 7-0-1) basically turned Thursday night into a one-minute match, scoring twice in the span of 49 seconds late in the first half. With the Moccasins trying to get back in the game late in the second half, Rollins added another goal in the 84th minute to put it out of reach. It extended the Tars’ unbeaten streak to 11 straight games and allowed them to secure a first-round bye in the SSC Tournament.

Rollins out-shot Florida Southern by only an 11-10 margin, and the corner kicks were equal at six apiece, but the Tars made the most of the chances they had.

“There’s a reason why they don’t lose,” said Moccasin coach Ben Strawbridge. “Every one of their players is very good and I don’t think they made a single mistake tonight. We only made a couple of them and they made us pay for it.”

The 34th minute told the story. Twice during those few seconds, Rollins got loose inside the box and connected on shots to take a 2-0 lead.  With the Tars allowing more than two goals only once in the last two years, and surrendering only seven shots per game in 2009, that two-goal advantage looked like a mountain.

Chelsea Brady got the first one for Rollins after taking a short pass from Marie Sapper inside the six-yard box. Her shot across the mouth of the goal and into the left side of the net resulted in her eighth goal of the season. The Tars pressured the Mocs again right after that, with Jessica Deese winning ball back for Rollins on the left side of the box and launching a shot over the head of Martina Tangen Billing for her fifth goal of the season.

The Mocs rebounded from that to get four shots of their own before halftime, but Rollins goalkeeper Michelle Dillingham saved three of them.

Florida Southern seemed to have the better of it too early in the second half, but still found the Rollins back line tough to penetrate. Their best chance came in the 57th minute when Emily Griffith gave Kerri-Ann Brown a ball near the top of the box, and Brown ripped a shot on goal that was saved by a diving Dillingham. The Tars’ All-SSC goalkeeper also stopped Kristen Vollmer from close range in the 65th minute.

It was just Dillingham making plays. Meagan Thomas was especially difficult on the Mocs, breaking up a good chance for Morgan Sammons in the 48th minute, shutting down the middle on a handful of other runs, and coming up with two more stops in the 80th minute that kept it a 2-0 game.

Rollins eventually scored again when Deese and Brady worked a give-and-go inside the box before Brady dribbled around two defenders and Tangen Billing to notch her second goal of the night. The junior forward also scored twice in the Tars’ 2008 win over the Mocs.

Dillingham finished with five saves for Rollins, while Tangen Billing made four for the Moccasins.

“Rollins proved tonight they’re the best team in the conference,” said Strawbridge. “They really earned this championship. While it’s disappointing we lost, we’re still excited about Tuesday and being able to play at home in the conference tournament for the first time ever.”

Tuesday night’s game starts at 7:00, with Saint Leo hosting Nova Southeastern in the other SSC First Round Game. A win on Tuesday would advance Florida Southern to the SSC semifinals in Winter Park, where they would face 2nd-seeded Florida Tech on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

For more information on the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, including complete a complete bracket, check the SSC website at sunshinestateconference.com.