DAVIE â€" Right place, right time. Princess Haley seems to be there a lot. Thursday night at Nova Southeastern, she was there again, scoring the go-ahead goal off a second-chance shot early in the second half, and helping the Mocs score again later for a 2-0 win over the Sharks.
A scoreless first half that saw the teams combine for only nine shots turned into a shooting frenzy in the second, but it was Florida Southern (5-4, 2-1 Sunshine State Conference) that scored the only goals. Haley gave Florida Southern the lead in the 50th minute before Kerri-Ann Brown added an insurance goal in the 80th. In between, the Moccasin defense had to turn away the Sharks (4-3, 1-2) several times to not only preserve the shutout, but the win as well.
At the start of the second half, the Mocs put the Sharks under heavy pressure right away. Brown had one shot saved in the 48th minute, but came right back for another one in the 50th after Kristen Vollmer found her in scoring position at the top of the box. Brown got the shot off, but it was saved by Nova goalkeeper Sarah Glass. As the ball rolled away, Haley stepped in and put home the rebound, giving the Mocs a 1-0 lead. The junior forward has now scored the game-winner is six of the Mocs' nine SSC wins over the last two seasons.
The next 25 minutes saw multiple shots for both teams, but neither could score. Martina Tangen Billing had to make saves in the 53rd, 54th and 62nd minutes, one of them a screaming line drive by Aubrey Fondey that she kept out of the lower left corner. The action got even more frantic around the 72nd minute when the Sharks were able to maintain possession, but center backs Renee Heacock and Ashlie Haas stepped up for the Mocs to repel one drive after another. They finally caught their breath after Tangen Billing made another save in the 73rd off a strong shot by Rachel Bueno.
Momentum swung back the other way after that and after two chances in the 78th minute, the Moccasins scored in the 80th. Again it was Vollmer who got the play started with a serve into the box. Haley had possession there first, but the ball ended up with Brown, who then lost it under pressure from the Nova defense. The Sharks never had a chance to clear it though before Brown won the ball back, slipped around a defender and fired off a shot that landed in the left side netting for her team-high fifth goal of the season.
Nova would have four more shots in the final 10 minutes, but none of them connected as the Mocs held on for the win. Tangen Billing, who did not have to make any saves in a shutout of Eckerd on Tuesday, equaled her season-high of seven saves against Nova while facing a total of 16 shots. It was her fourth shutout of the season.
Glass made five saves for the Sharks while facing 13 shots.
The scoring chances were equal for both sides in the first half, with the Sharks holding a 5-4 advantage in shots, and each goalkeeper making two saves. Most of those chances came fairly early too before the game settled into a defensive battle.
The Moccasins had the better of play in the opening minutes, as Brown forced Glass into both of her first-half saves in the first 12 minutes. Haley put another scare into the Sharks by intercepting a pass in the defensive third, and firing a shot wide left during the same span. Heacock came close to scoring too, lining a header from a corner kick just wide of the right post in the 20th minute.
At the other end of the field, the Mocs dodged two early corner kicks by the Sharks and Tangen Billing easily stopped Nova shots in the 9th and 14th minutes. Another corner kick by Nova in the 20th minute was well-placed and the Sharks had a golden opportunity with Tangen Billing briefly out of the play, but Heacock was able to clear it before any damage could be done.
Nova’s closest shot actually came from well outside the box. It came from Fiorella Booth, who hit the crossbar after having a go at one from 35 yards.
Florida Southern will play again Friday afternoon in Lantana against Palm Beach Atlantic. Game time is 2:30 p.m.
