LANTANA â€" An nearly perfect game by Angie Kuhn and the return of Ashley Morrell were a bad combination for Florida Southern on Friday. With Kuhn scoring two brilliant goals off headers, and Morrell making 10 saves, Palm Beach Atlantic was able to hold off a late charge by the Moccasins for a 3-1 victory at Lantana Field.
Kuhn’s two goals came off nearly identical plays as she finished off crossing passes from Ashley Shoaf in the 32nd minute and the 50th. In between, she also assisted a goal by Jennie Weil as the Sailfish (3-3) built a 3-0 lead before the Moccasins unleashed a torrent of late shots to get back in the game.
Florida Southern (5-5) out-shot Palm Beach Atlantic, 22-10, including 14-4 in the second half. A good percentage of those were on goal, but Morrell made 10 saves overall and seven in the second half to hold the Mocs at bay. It was Morrell’s first start of the year after the senior had missed the Sailfish first five games.
The Moccasins threatened early with a couple of good runs in the opening minutes, but were perhaps half a step away from converting. The foot of Alex Regin prevented two chances, and reserve defender Angelica Torres blocked another shot by Kerri-Ann Brown inside the box in the 26th minute. Princess Haley also had a good look around the same time, but had a shot from 18 yards saved by Morrell.
Not long after that, the Sailfish put together three strong shots in a row and scored on two of them. The first one came in the 32nd minute when Shoaf sent a cross out of the left corner into the middle of the box that Kuhn headed into the far side of the net, giving PBA a 1-0 lead.
Shortly thereafter, Juliet Waller struck a shot from the left side of the box that Martina Tangen Billing deflected into the far post, and the Mocs were able to clear it before another shot could be taken. Five minutes later, though, Waller helped the Sailfish score again, bringing the ball back down the left flank and getting it to the top of the box for Kuhn. Without an open shot herself, Kuhn found Weil for one and the freshman was on target to give PBA a 2-0 lead.
Just over four minutes into the second half, Shoaf and Kuhn connected again, with Kuhn again using her head to re-direct a cross from the left corner into the net.
An aggressive Florida Southern attack put constant pressure on the Sailfish for the rest of the game and resulted in numerous chances, but Morrell and the defense withstood the barrage. The Mocs’ only goal came in the 74th minute, with Haley knocking home a corner kick from Alex Hoover. There were other chances though, and many of them ended in the hands of Morrell.
Morrell also denied the Mocs in another way right at the outset of the second half. With the score still 2-0, Lexie Bottomley played a long ball forward for Hoover, who had beaten the Sailfish defense with only Morrell between her and the goal. Coming out to challenge Hoover, Morrell broke up the play and was then called for a foul just outside the box before Hoover could recover and put the ball into an open net. A yellow card was assessed, but it proved to be a good foul for the Sailfish. Brown put the ensuing free kick over the crossbar, and roughly 80 seconds later, Kuhn scored her second goal of the day to put the Sailfish up by three.
Another big play by Morrell came in the 79th minute after the Mocs had pulled within 3-1. On another corner kick by Hoover, Renee Heacock got a strong header on the ball, but Morrell dove to her right to stop it. She then made two more saves in the final 2½ minutes to hold the score at 3-1.
After playing three games on the road in the span of four days, the Moccasins return home for their next one, hosting Flagler College on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.
