VALDOSTA â€" For the second year in a row, the Florida Southern women’s soccer team started the season with a road game in Georgia against a top-flight opponent from last year’s NCAA playoffs, and though the Moccasins didn’t get the final result they were shooting for Friday night, they held their own in a 1-goal game. Margaret Stauffer’s 54th minute goal stood up the rest of the way, as Valdosta State held on for the 1-0 win.

Junior goalkeeper Erin Moseley (Jacksonville, Fla.) helped keep the Blazers (1-0) from scoring anything else in a game delayed more than 90 minutes at the outset by lightning. Moseley made a career-high 10 saves on 15 VSU shots, but Stauffer’s shot from 20 yards barely made it over her outstretched hands and under the cross bar for a goal. Stauffer was playing her first game for the Blazers in two years after redshirting in 2012. The sophomore midfielder did the work herself by gaining possession in the attacking third and splitting two defenders before taking the shot.

Moseley made five saves in each half, and was challenged in the 13th minute by Zahimara Fantauzzi. She managed to keep that one out of the net, and had to react quickly on another shot by Kayla Robles in the 44th minute when the Mocs turned the ball over near the top of the box. That play allowed the Mocs to go into halftime still tied.

The Moccasins (0-1) were held to three shots by a defense that allowed less than nine per game in 2012. One of those came in the eighth minute by freshman midfielder Kristy Legoas (Palm Harbor, Fla.), who gave VSU goalkeeper Olivia Mills a tough chance to handle for her first save of the season. Mills didn’t have to make another play until the 63rd minute when she saved a shot by Sydney Montgomery (Sanford, Fla.).

Even without many chances throughout the match, Florida Southern still had an opportunity to tie the score in the final 90 seconds. A good drive to goal by Kirra Rainbow (Melbourne Beach, Fla.) gave the Mocs a corner kick with just under a minute to play, but the Blazers knocked the first one over the end line before clearing another one that allowed them to run out the clock.

Overall, the Florida Southern defense turned in a strong performance led by center back Alyssa Abrahamsen (Highland, NY). The senior broke up several chances by the Blazers throughout the night, and Christine Knudstrup (Lakeland, Fla.), Gianna Conte (Orange Park, Fla.), and Montgomery made key plays for the Mocs as well. Conte made one early in the second half with the game still tied, slowing down a break-away by the Blazers while the Mocs recovered from the counter-attack.

Florida Southern will play its second game in Valdosta on Sunday at noon when it takes on 16th-ranked North Georgia.