Box Score
MIAMI SHORES â€" With five one-goal losses on the season, Barry has been very close to a very good season. With Florida Southern ranked #6 in the first NCAA South Region rankings, the Moccasins are on the verge of an even better season of their own. Wednesday night, both teams played like a postseason bid was on the line, and it was a goal by Barry’s Sara Karna in the 77th minute that lifted the Buccaneers to a 1-0 win.
Karna’s goal came at the end of a counter-attack after Barry goalkeeper Becca Rogers made a tough save on a shot at point-blank range by Caroline Evers. With Evers going in 1-on-1, Rogers stopped the shot in front of the left post and started the Buccaneers going the other way. Lauren Manna then found Karna near the opposite 18-yard line, and Karna slipped inside the box for a shot inside the left post.
The first half featured only eight total shots and a single corner kick. Almost every time the ball was played forward, the defensive lines from both teams would gain control and send it back up the field where the sequence would eventually play out again. By halftime, Barry (5-6-1, 2-4-1 Sunshine State Conference) had taken five shots and Florida Southern (5-6-2, 3-2-1 SSC) had taken three.
Barry had the first three shots, all of them in the first 15 minutes, but none of them were especially threatening. Two of them came from the far right side of the box and were easily saved by Erin Moseley, and one was a long free kick by Amber Bender that was well off the mark. The final two Barry shots of the half, in the 37th and 44th minutes were of more concern.
In the 37th minute, Lavinia Nkomo managed to work her way through the Moccasin defense and into the middle of the box in prime scoring position. Alyssa Abrahamsen saved the Mocs by recovering in time to knock the ball away from Nkomo, clearing it over the end line before she could line up a shot. On the corner kick, Danielle Mabie did get a shot off, but Moseley grabbed it to end the threat.
With just over a minute to play in the first half, the Bucs got another shot off when Bender sent a free kick from the center circle all the way into the box. Lauren Manna was able to head the ball toward the goal but sent it too far to the left.
Florida Southern’s first serious threat came in the 29th minute when Kara Moore played the ball into the left corner for Sydney Montgomery. After fighting off Mabie for possession, Montgomery lined a shot on goal that was saved by Becca Rogers. The Bucs had barely recovered from that before Gianna Conte split two defenders on a run into the box and got another shot off that was wide right.
After being held to three shots in the first half, the Mocs doubled their shot total in the first 12 minutes of the second half and had at least three other good scoring chances during that time as well. Most of them came through Kirra Rainbow, who the Bucs struggled to contain in the early stages of the second half, allowing the sophomore forward to set up the Mocs on several occasions.
The early second-half shots came from Sarah Goolsby, Rainbow and Caroline Evers. Of those three, Goolsby’s was perhaps the most dangerous, coming after a cross by Rainbow and a pass from Evers inside the box. The shot was just wide though, allowing the Bucs to escape with the score still tied. Bender and Alyssa Picasio also cleared balls that took away two other chances from Florida Southern.
Most of the second-half drama though came in the final 20 minutes starting with a dazzling display of dribbling by Goolsby in the 71st minute as she weaved in and out of the Barry defense en route to another scoring chance. Leaving at least one defender literally sprawled on the ground, Goolsby got off a strong shot that was again saved at close range by Rogers.
After Barry scored the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute, the Mocs put the Buccaneers under steady pressure, resulting in five shots and three corner kicks in the final 10 minutes. Jackie Metz twice put headers on target that looked like they would find the back of the net, only to have Barry defenders Dominque Richardson and Chelsea Stoeckigt clear them off the line with Rogers unable to make a play.
In the 82nd minute, Moore blasted a free kick from long range that had a chance to tie the game too, but Rogers went high to punch it over the crossbar. It was the last of Rogers’ seven saves in the game, as the Moccasins out-shot the Buccaneers 14-10, including 11-5 in the second half.
Moseley had three saves for the Moccasins.
Florida Southern will be back on the field Saturday night when it hosts 16th-ranked Tampa at 5:00 p.m. It will be the Moccasins’ final regular season home game of the season.
