Box Score
WINTER PARK â€" Go figure. On a team blessed with plenty of firepower, Rollins College used a girl who hadn’t scored all season to win its first Sunshine State Conference Tournament championship. Ali Schrader’s goal early in the second half, her third of the tournament, was enough to give the Tars a 1-0 victory over Florida Southern, securing the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
Florida Southern (12-7-1) finished as the SSC runner-up for the second year in a row, but will almost certainly join 8th-ranked Rollins (15-1-2) in the NCAA South Region Tournament. The Moccasins entered the SSC Tournament ranked #5 in the regional poll, and six teams will be selected for the NCAA playoffs on Monday night. Rollins was ranked #3, and with #2 Florida Tech losing on Friday, the Tars now have a chance to move into the #2 position and serve as one of two hosts for the first weekend of the regional tournament.
Sunday’s game was decided five minutes into the second half when Schrader blasted a ball from the top of the box that slipped just inside the left post. It came after a throw-in from Maia Ryan off the left sideline, with Schrader maneuvering into position for the shot. The freshman forward had not scored a goal during the regular season, but after scoring twice in the Tars’ semifinal win over Saint Leo, and once against Florida Southern, she was named the MVP of the 2009 SSC Tournament.
While Schrader provided Rollins with its offense, the Tars also got a big game from their defense, that featured SSC Defensive Player-of-the-Year Meagan Thomas and two other all-conference defenders. They lived up to their billing, as did goalkeeper Michelle Dillingham, who may have been the reason it ended up being a 1-0 game.
At the game’s outset, Florida Southern was clearly in control, taking four shots in the first 20 minutes, but Dillingham kept the Moccasins off the board with three saves. The first of those came against Princess Haley one-on-one inside the box. Kerri-Ann Brown got Haley the ball in good position to score, but Dillingham came out to challenge her and stopped the powerful shot at close range. A few minutes later Dillingham again denied the Mocs by tipping a shot by Emily Griffith over the crossbar.
After getting out-shot by the Mocs 4-1 in the early going, the Tars evened things up by the end of the first half and went to the locker room with a 6-5 advantage. Martina Tangen Billing saved two shots, and a header by Rachel Jakubowski on a corner kick was also a close call, with the ball sailing high.
The second half saw the Rollins defense clamp down hard on the Moccasins, as the Tars allowed just two shots over the final 45 minutes. Thomas did her part, but so did Maia Ryan, Charlotte Murrell and Leah Hirsch. The only save Dillingham had to make during that time came with three minutes to play and it wasn’t easy.
Both teams had to contend with gusting winds all afternoon, and those conditions played a role at the end. Hanna Jansson took the shot for Florida Southern from outside the box, and it looked harmless enough, but the wind grabbed it and nearly pushed it into the goal before Dillingham recovered to knock it down.
The Tars weren’t able to keep possession after that and a foul by Rollins in the final minute gave the Mocs one last chance. It was the Rollins defense, however, that again turned Florida Southern away to preserve the win and their 12th shutout of the season.
Dillingham, Thomas and Murrell joined Schrader on the all-tournament team, along with midfielder Jessica Mooney. The Mocs were represented by Tangen Billing, Griffith, Brown and Jackie Bachteler.
NCAA Tournament bids will be announced Monday night at 7:00, with West Florida expected to earn the #1 seed. The Argonauts would host a first-round game between the #4 and #5 seeds on Friday night. Either Florida Tech or Rollins are expected to be seeded #2.
