Box Score
MELBOURNE â€" A second-chance penalty kick early in the second half gave Florida Tech the first goal of the night, and despite another valiant effort the rest of the way, Florida Southern was unable to match it. Ashley Vezina converted that PK for the Panthers, and Aubri Williamson sealed the game with a goal late in the match that gave Florida Tech a 2-0 non-conference win over the Moccasins.
Vezina got not one, but two chances to give Florida Tech (5-2) the lead after she was taken down in the box for a penalty kick in the 58th minute. Her first attempt was saved by Erin Moseley (Jacksonville, Fla.), but the Moccasin goalkeeper was called for leaving the goal line too early, allowing Vezina to take the kick again. This one was on target for a 1-0 Panther lead.
Williamson, who came into the game ranked second in the country in both points and goals, then scored on a header in the 82nd minute for her eighth goal of the season. It came on a cross out of the corner from Kristin Howe, with Williamson converting at the near post.
The Moccasins (1-5-3) had the better of it in the first half when they out-shot the Panthers 9-4, and generally won the battle of possession too. They threatened less than three minutes into the game when a free kick by Kara Moore (Fleming Island, Fla.) was headed clear but picked up by Kristy Legoas (Palm Harbor, Fla.) who fired a shot from inside the penalty area high of the goal. Moore then hit one from 30 yards out a few minutes later that was also just high.
The Panthers put together a sustained threat in the eighth minute, and their best of the first half, when they were awarded a free kick from the top left corner of the box. Williamson sent the ball arcing toward the far top corner of the goal, but Moseley was able to bat it away. The ensuing corner kick resulted in a shot by Vezina, but Moseley stopped that one too.
The midfield combination of Moore and Legoas continued to work for the Moccasins and it nearly produced a goal in the 17th minute when Legoas got loose inside the 18-yard line. While working under pressure from Brittany Comeau, however, her shot rolled wide of the right post.
The last eight minutes of the first half saw both teams nearly dent the scoreboard. Moore hit the crossbar for the Moccasins, and a thru ball played from Courtney Hueston to Williamson was just a step too far and allowed Moseley to come out and fall on it.
In the second half, the Moccasins withstood early pressure from the Panthers, much of it created by midfielders Cierra Misner and Eva Banton, before Vezina earned the penalty kick 12 minutes into the period.
Not long after that, the Mocs nearly answered when a long free kick by Moore into the box was punched out by Florida Tech goalkeeper Julia Kantor. Alyssa Abrahamsen (Highland, N.Y.) played it back in for Kirra Rainbow (Melbourne Beach, Fla.), but Kantor was again there to prevent a shot.
With the score still 1-0, Moseley prevented the Panthers from scoring another goal in the 79th minute when she went high in the air to snare a shot by Vezina from the left wing that was heading into the upper right corner. It wasn’t long after, however, that Williamson did score for the Panthers to make it a 2-0 game.
After getting out-shot in the first half, Florida Tech finished with a 15-11 advantage in the game, though Florida Southern did take eight corner kicks to the Panthers’ one.
Moseley made six saves for the Moccasins, and Kantor made one for the Panthers.
Florida Southern will open Sunshine State Conference play at home Saturday at 5 p.m. when it hosts Barry University.
