Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG â€" A break-away goal by Devon Morse one minute into the second half was enough to give Eckerd a 1-0 win over Florida Southern Tuesday night despite another strong defensive effort by the Moccasins, who allowed just four shots in the match.
In the first half neither team came close to scoring, though Florida Southern maintained possession for the vast majority of that time. The Moccasins had two early shots from Jackie Metz (Vero Beach, Fla.), but one was saved by Morgan Crescent and the other was blocked well away from the goal. That one came in the 12th minute, and neither the Mocs nor the Tritons had another shot until Auburn Cherry (New Port Richey, Fla.) won the ball in the attacking third and sent one right to Crescent in the 42nd.
Even with only three first-half shots, the Moccasins (1-7-3, 0-2) kept the Tritons (6-4, 1-1) busy defending their turf. Eckerd defender Leah Chisolm spent a good portion of the first half fending off Kristy Legoas (Palm Harbor, Fla.), while Bekah Allen had her hands full on the other side of the field with either Kirra Rainbow (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) or Caroline Evers (Valrico, Fla.). The Mocs were unable to work the ball into position though for any more shots.
The Tritons had even less success against the Moccasin defense. Their only shot in the first half came with 30 seconds on the clock, it came from long range by Taylor Tippett, and it was right at goalkeeper Erin Moseley (Jacksonville, Fla.). A better opportunity for the Tritons came right before that when a ball crossed by Arie Anahory skimmed off the head of Danielle Cook in the middle of the box.
The game opened up a bit after halftime, especially for the Moccasins who matched their shot total from the first half in the first 10 minutes of the second. After one of those early scoring chances, however, the Tritons went quickly the other way, with Morse running nearly half the field by herself. She eventually took the shot from 25 yards and put it home for her third goal of the season, and the only one of the night.
The Moccasins ended up taking 11 shots in the second half and forced Crescent into three saves during that time. The Mocs nearly tied the game in the 57th minute when Sydney Montgomery (Sanford, Fla.) sent a free kick into the box for Metz, whose header was just wide of the post. Sarah Goolsby (Richmond Hill, Ga.) then had two shots inside the box in the 59th and 60th minutes that were saved by Crescent.
Later, in the 65th minute, Goolsby had an even better look with Crescent out of position, but defender Monique Elliott blocked the shot inside the 6-yard box. The Mocs had two more shots blocked in scoring range in the final five minutes, and the Tritons survived three corner kicks as well.
Florida Southern’s final chance to score the equalizer came in the 89th minute when the Mocs were twice a step off the mark with balls played forward to Legoas. The first was a nice sequence from Montgomery and Moore, but Crescent came out to pick up the ball before Legoas could make a play.
Crescent finished with five saves for Eckerd, and Moseley made two for Florida Southern. Moseley had to face only four shots behind the Mocs’ usual back line of Montgomery, Gianna Conte (Orange Park, Fla.), Christine Knudstrup (Lakeland, Fla.) and Alyssa Abrahamsen (Highland, N.Y.).
Florida Southern returns home for its next match on Saturday when it hosts Florida Tech at 7:30 p.m.
