LAKELAND â€" Florida Southern earned its third straight win Friday night, and for the third straight game, a different player took charge of the offense. This time it was Hanna Jansson, who scored two late second-half goals to blow open a close game and help lift the Moccasins to a 4-0 win over Thomas (GA).
For much of Friday night’s game, the score wasn’t the only thing that was close. Before Jansson scored her first goal in the 75th minute, the Moccasins (3-2) rattled three shots off the crossbar and had another shot by Emily Griffith that was on target but headed clear by Thomas defender Christina Ratcliffe. It was indicative of the type of night it was for the Mocs, who were maddeningly close to several other goals until Jansson put the game away on a pair of corner kicks.
Both scoring plays started with Alex Hoover, who swung the ball from the right corner into the box where Jansson was able to get open on the back side of the play. The first one deflected off players from both teams before ending up at the feet of Jansson who punched it home for a 3-0 lead. Two minutes later, the two sophomores hooked up for a second time, with help in between from Ashlie Haas. Again, Jansson did the honors almost over-looked at the back post.
Statistically, the Moccasins dominated the game, out-shooting the Night Hawks (2-2) by a margin of 26-3. They also earned 15 corner kicks, equaling the most in school history for a regulation length game. They had three corners in the first 1:15 alone, and 12 in the first half altogether, putting constant pressure on the Thomas goal.
Just about every Moccasin who pushed forward in the opening minutes had a chance to score, with Hoover hitting the crossbar in the 5th minute, followed by shots pulled wide by Emily Griffith, Kerri-Ann Brown and Morgan Sammons. Eventually, one found the mark when Sammons fired off a shot from inside the box and had it saved, but Griffith was there for the rebound and a 1-0 Florida Southern lead.
The Mocs could have scored again in the 35th minute when Thomas goalkeeper Heather Collins made a tough save against Sammons, and was injured on the play. In a sporting move applauded by both teams, Princess Haley elected to knock the ball out of bounds rather than have play continue dangerously around a fallen opponent. The Mocs would earn another corner kick shortly thereafter, but a shot by Hoover was stopped by new goalkeeper Danielle Boissonneault.
Still holding a 1-0 lead, a ball won by Renee Heacock started a flurry of shots by Florida Southern in the final two minutes of the first half. Sammons hit the crossbar with one of them and had a header go just wide.
The Mocs then had another close call early in the second half when Griffith hit an open shot from the top of the box that appeared headed for the back of the net, but that’s when Ratcliffe stepped in the way to head the ball out of danger. It proved to be only a temporary reprieve for the Night Hawks, as Moccasin defender Lexie Bottomley tracked it down and sent the ball back into the box where Brown converted for a 2-0 Florida Southern lead.
Florida Southern continued to pepper the goal after that, forcing Boissonneault into four saves in quick succession. The Mocs wouldn’t score again though, until Jansson got on the board with 14:25 remaining.
Boissonneault finished with five saves in the match after Collins had made three. On the other end, Martina Tangen Billing had to make just one in recording her second shutout of the season.
Florida Southern’s next test will be Sunday afternoon when it hosts 2nd-ranked West Florida at 2:30. The Argonauts were national runner-up in 2008 and return 10 starters from a team that set a Division II record with 20 shutouts. The Moccasins were one of only six teams to score against them, and both sides ended up in the NCAA South Region Tournament.
