Box Score
LAKELAND â€" If there was one word to describe Wednesday night’s game between Florida Southern and Saint Leo, it would have to be stunning. First there was the goal less than three minutes into the match that gave Florida Southern the lead. Then there was the goal by Saint Leo that tied it in the 89th minute when the Moccasins were in control of the outcome. That left enough time, plenty as it turned out, for Caroline Evers to deliver one more and give Florida Southern a 2-1 victory.
The Moccasins’ leading goal scorer in 2012, Evers had been held without one through the first four games of 2013. That changed Wednesday night, as the sophomore forward from Valrico scored the dramatic game-winner with 1:10 remaining, just 43 seconds after Ari Foreman’s running header had tied the game at one. The only thing needed to make it even more dramatic was the heavy rain that fell earlier in the match.
Foreman knotted the score after taking a cross from Fabienne Schwenk deep out of the right corner, and re-directing it into the net. Before that, the Moccasins (1-3-1) had successfully run several minutes off the clock without giving the Lions (2-2) more than one other opportunity to tie the game. That happened in the 87th minute when goalkeeper Erin Moseley (Jacksonville, Fla.) went to the ground to save a shot that glanced off the foot of a Moccasin defender.
The Mocs answered right back, however, when sophomore defender Gianna Conte (Orange Park, Fla.) came up with the ball along the right side of the field, got it inside to Evers, who beat one defender herself before sending a shot from right to left that embraced the net for the game-winner.
Before the late-game fireworks, the only goal of the night had belonged to Kara Moore (Fleming Island, Fla.), when she too notched her first goal of the season just 2:57 into the contest.
In between, the Moccasins (1-3-1) came close to scoring a handful of other times, and the Lions (2-2) had a few chances too, but goalkeeper Abby Evans of Saint Leo and Moseley each made impressive saves late in the second half to keep the score right where it had been almost since the beginning. Line Pedersen turned in an impressive outing for Saint Leo on defense too, and for the second game in a row, Jackie Metz (Vero Beach, Fla.) made things happen as well.
Moore’s goal for the Moccasins came on the first shot of the game for either team. Kirra Rainbow (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) got her the ball inside the 6-yard box coming from the left flank, and Moore connected at the near post. Then, for more than 80 minutes, the game turned into a stalemate.
Moseley had to contend with the rain early in the game when she grabbed a couple of long balls played into the box, and the Mocs were also fortunate in the 13th minute when Saint Leo’s Arielle Kabangu missed an open net. It was one of only three first-half shots by the Lions. Kabungo also had a couple of other opportunities but either couldn’t get a shot off around the Moccasin defense, or had balls played in too far for her to make a play.
The Lions also forced Moseley into a save in the 28th minute on a long free kick by Victoria Roda, but she handled it without difficulty. Alyssa Abrahamsen (Highland, N.Y.) also took the brunt of another Saint Leo attack around the same time, winning the ball for the Mocs after a long run by Foreman down the middle of the field.
The Moccasins came close to scoring in the 25th minute when Evers sent a ball just out of the reach of Kristy Legoas (Palm Harbor, Fla.) at the back post. Legoas was in good position again in the 38th minute when Margot Chowansky (Califon, N.J.) shrugged off a defender at the top of the box and got the ball inside for a shot that went wide.
In the second half, the Moccasins again had several good looks at the net, but were unable to convert until much later. Rainbow dribbled in and around four Saint Leo defenders in the 53rd minute and fired off a shot that Evans went to the ground to save. A few minutes after that, Metz was even closer to scoring, sending a header off a corner kick past Evans that was stopped by Ale Muro in the back. A follow-up attempt from close range was then saved by Evans to keep it a 1-0 game.
The Mocs nearly put the game away twice in the 83rd and 84th minutes. First it was Sydney Montgomery (Sanford, Fla.) who set up Evers with a run to goal that the Saint Leo keeper came out to smother in a 1-on-1 battle. Then it was a corner kick headed on by Metz that gave Sarah Goolsby (Richmond Hill, Ga.) a shot inside of six yards that was somehow saved by Evans with one hand.
It was one of six saves in the game for Evans, and Moseley made four for the Moccasins, who allowed only eight shots.
Florida Southern will be on the road this Saturday for another non-conference match when it plays Lynn University at 1 p.m.
