LAKELAND â€" Zach Hofstetter had a hat trick in the first 12 minutes of the game. Jared Bellingar had a hat trick in the span of seven minutes later in the game. Givi Kokaia was simply in the middle of it all. It was that type of night for the Moccasins as Florida Southern reached double digits on the scoreboard for the first time in 12 years with a 10-0 win over Ave Maria.
“What a way for our seniors to celebrate senior night,†said FSC coach Hugh Seyfarth. “Jared, Givi and Johan Jonsson have showed great leadership this year, and they’re even better people. I’m very happy they got to have a night like this to remember.â€
Florida Southern (9-4-1) scored on its first three shots of the game, all of them by Hofstetter, who also assisted the fourth Moccasin goal. All of that happened in the first 16 minutes, and the Mocs were just getting started. By the end of the night, Kokaia, Luke Jenner, Logan Albritton, and Brad Hunt had all found the back of the net, and Bellingar scored the final three goals to give the Mocs their highest scoring game since a 13-1 win over Southeastern in 1998.
Just as they did that night when Peter Andersen and Paul Sluyter did it, the Mocs had two players with a hat trick against Ave Maria (1-12), a relatively new school located in southwest Florida. It was the fourth time in school history two different players scored at least three goals in the same game, but Hofstetter worked his way into the record book another way.
When Hofstetter scored his third goal of the match, only 11:35 had elapsed, making it the quickest hat trick in the program’s 54-year history. Cesar Wilen held the previous mark of 19:37, doing it in a win over Southeastern in 1994. Wilen had also been the last to score three goals in the first half.
Bellingar, who had only one goal in his career prior to Saturday, scored in the 68th, 72nd, and 75th minutes, with those three goals coming in the span of seven minutes and nine seconds. It’s the not the fastest a Moccasin has scored three consecutive goals, however. It took Shane Hassett only 2:37 to do it against Southeastern in 1987, and Marcus Skarman needed a little over six minutes against Brewton-Parker in 2001.
Meanwhile, Kokaia not only scored a goal for the Moccasins, he also tied a school record with five assists, equaling the mark established in 1989 by Mike Bauder against Warner Southern. He was the first Moccasin with as many as four since that 13-1 win over Southeastern in 1998 when Nathan Garcia did it.
Two of Kokaia’s assists came on two of Hofstetter’s early goals, with Jenner starting both of those scoring plays. Hofstetter then returned the favor in the 16th minute by assisting Jenner with a cross out of the left corner that was also played by Ricky Marton. That gave Hofstetter 10 assists for the season, making him only the third Moccasin to reach double figures.
Albritton made it 5-0 when he headed in a corner kick from Brad Hunt in the 28th minute, and the score remained that way until halftime.
Kokaia then scored in the 53rd minute, working a give-and-go with Viktor Bakkioui for his eighth goal of the season. Both Moccasin forwards then assisted Hunt in the 54th minute to make it 7-0. That’s when Bellingar took over, with Kokaia also picking up an assist on two of his goals.
In addition to Kokaia (5), Jenner (2) and Bakkioui (2), Adam Hansjons also had a pair of assists for Florida Southern, which tied a team record with 15 in the game. Sebastian Bergh was on the list as well, re-directing a free kick by Kokaia toward the net where Bellingar finished the play for his first goal.
The Moccasins out-shot the Gyrenes 27-4, with Johan Jonsson and Charlie Craig splitting the shutout. Each played one half, and Craig had to make the only save. The Gyrenes came close to scoring in the 13th minute when Carlos Celaya hit the crossbar, and in the 65th when Damian Coliqueo flicked a header on goal that was easily stopped by Craig.
“It was nice to be able to play a lot of guys tonight and get people some quality minutes. Now we have to turn our attention back to conference play for a very big game at Florida Tech.â€
Florida Southern returns to Sunshine State Conference play on Thursday when it travels to Melbourne to take on Florida Tech at 3:00 p.m. The Moccasins now know that a win in that game will clinch a spot in the SSC Tournament, and may be enough to secure a first-round game at home.
