Box Score
LAKELAND â€" Though she watched most of the first half from the sideline, Kara Moore was on the field and in the middle of the action when it counted most. Coming off the bench for only the second time this year, Moore assisted both Moccasin goals Tuesday night, including Emily Griffith’s game winner in the 81st minute to give #17 Florida Southern a 2-1 win over the University of Tampa.
Tampa (7-3, 2-2 Sunshine State Conference) was allowing just 5.8 shots per game and gave up only 10 to Florida Southern (6-3-2, 2-1), but Moore made sure they were enough to give the Moccasins a much-needed win. A loss would have put them six points behind Tampa in the SSC standings, but Tuesday’s result instead left six teams tied with two wins apiece.
While the Tampa defense gave up only 10 shots, Florida Southern’s defense was even better. The back line of Lexie Bottomley, Morgan Sammons, Ashlie Haas and Kristen Vollmer surrendered only four, and the Mocs have given up only 12 in their three conference games this year. Martina Tangen Billing had to make only one save as the Spartans rarely threatened the goal. Further compounding Tampa’s problems on offense was the loss of leading scorer Jazmin Perry, who went down with an injury just over three minutes into the game and did not return.
Even so, it was Tampa that scored first, with Andrea Arnone slipping a shot past Tangen Billing at the near post after taking a pass from Samantha Kay from near the top right corner of the penalty box. That goal at the 40:03 mark was only the second shot taken by Tampa in the game, and its first since less than four minutes had elapsed.
The Moccasins came right back, however, with Kerri-Ann Brown tying the game less than two minutes later. Moore got her the ball in the left corner of the box, and when Tampa goalkeeper Leah Cesanek came out to challenge her, Brown beat her with a shot back across the goal.
The second half saw no more shots than the first, with the Moccasins holding a 5-2 advantage in both. The difference makers were Moore and Griffith, who hooked up on a corner kick with 9:37 remaining. After bending one over the crossbar a few minutes earlier, Moore made the adjustment on her next corner kick and placed it in position for Griffith to score on a header at the back post. It was Griffith’s third goal of the season, with all of them coming in the last five games.
That was the last shot taken by Florida Southern, but Tampa had three good scoring chances in the final five minutes. Tangen Billing snared two dangerous crossing attempts to stop two of them, and the third one ended when Kay’s free kick with 30 seconds to play was too wide to be played by anyone inside the 6-yard box.
Florida Southern’s next game is Monday, October 11, at Flagler College. The game is a make-up from one that was earlier postponed by weather.
