Box Score
WINTER PARK â€" The last time Florida Southern officially won a game against Rollins College in Winter Park, no member of the current team had even been born. In that case, consider Saturday night’s win by the Moccasins a re-birth of sorts. With Givi Kokaia, Zach Hofstetter and Viktor Bakkioui all scoring goals, Florida Southern posted a 3-1 win over 17th-ranked Rollins, beating the Tars on their home field for the first time since 1965.
Since their last win 45 years ago, the Moccasins had gone 0-21-3 against Rollins at Sandspur Field, though one of those ties ended with the Mocs advancing in the 2003 SSC Tournament on penalty kicks. It was also the Mocs’ first win over the Tars on any field since 2001, when they won 1-0 in Lakeland.
Kokaia put Florida Southern (5-1-1, 1-1 Sunshine State Conference) on the board first with his goal in the 15th minute. It came after Rollins goalkeeper Chris Cummings had saved a shot by Hofstetter but couldn’t hold the ball. Kokaia one-timed the loose ball into the net for his seventh goal of the season, a new career-high for the senior forward.
In the final 15 minutes of the first half, the Mocs had to withstand five corner kicks and three shots, but managed to take their 1-0 lead into halftime. However, the Tars (4-2-1, 2-1) were able to tie the game early in the 59th minute when Thomas Biddinger headed in a free kick from Chase Neinken.
The score remained tied until the 71st minute when the Mocs again scored on a deflected ball. This time it was Hofstetter who put it in the net after Jovaughn Howard’s initial attempt had been stopped by a Rollins defender.
Bakkioui scored in the 76th minute to give Florida Southern some breathing room and the Moccasin defense did the rest.
Johan Jonsson made two saves late in the game to keep Rollins from scoring again, one of them another header by Biddinger on a corner kick. The Tars had two other corner kicks in the 87th minute without getting off a shot.
Jonsson finished with four saves in the game, while Cummings made six for Rollins. Florida Southern out-shot Rollins, 12-11, though the Tars also had 13 corner kicks.
Not only did Florida Southern post its first win over Rollins in nine years, it was also the Mocs’ first win over a ranked team since 2005, and their first over a team ranked in the top 20 since beating #9 St. Anselm in 2001.
Florida Southern returns home for its next match on Wednesday night, hosting Saint Leo at 7:00 p.m.
