MIAMI SHORES â€" Kerri-Ann Brown really didn’t go anywhere this season; it just took her a little bit longer to get going. Now that she is, the Moccasins have one more weapon to use, just as they did Sunday when Brown scored one goal and created another, giving #15 Florida Southern a 2-1 victory over Barry.
The Moccasins (8-3-2, 4-1 Sunshine State Conference) dominated the first half, outshooting the Buccaneers 12-4 and taking five corner kicks without giving up any themselves. They threatened right from the outset when Jessica Giblin nearly scored less than two minutes into the game, getting the shot past goalkeeper Mikaela Barboza but not by midfielder Katie Lamendola, who stopped it for the Bucs to keep the game scoreless.
The Mocs continued their early pressure with five shots in the first 11 minutes, but it took Brown coming in as a substitute for Florida Southern to score. Checking into the game with 17 minutes to play in the half, the senior forward scored three minutes later, and helped give Florida Southern another one two-and-half minutes after that.
The first goal came after the Buccaneers (6-7-1, 2-3-1) gave the ball away in the back third of the field in the 31st minute, with Brown the beneficiary. After putting that shot in the net, she was in the right place at the right time in the 33rd minute when Barboza saved a shot taken by Kara Moore but couldn’t hold it. Brown then hit the follow-up shot off the post before Barboza punched the ball in the net for an own goal that gave the Mocs a 2-0 lead.
That gave Brown four goals in the last three games. She scored twice in the Mocs’ 3-1 victory at Lynn on Friday, and once in a 2-1 win over Tampa in their previous game. She’d scored only two goals in the first 10 games of the season after finishing seventh in the SSC last year with nine.
The two goals scored in the first half against Barry stood up for the rest of the game, but only barely. The Bucs came out strong in the second half, forcing Martina Tangen Billing into two saves in the first five minutes. They got on the board in the 69th minute when Emma Karp headed in a corner kick from Miranda Goransson for her league-leading 18th goal of the season. That came after Ashlie Haas had denied Barry a goal on a header by Melissa Madrid by stopping a shot Tangen Billing was unable to get to.
Tangen Billing made two more saves after Barry had pulled within 2-1, but the Buccaneers did not have a shot in the final 10 minutes with the Florida Southern defense clamping down on them.
Tangen Billing finished with five saves in the match and Barboza made six for Barry.
Florida Southern returns home for its next game on Saturday at 5:00, when it hosts Nova Southeastern (7-3-1, 4-0-1) in a battle for first place in the Sunshine State conference.
