Box Score
LAKELAND - No. 11 Florida Southern stormed out to an early first-half lead and never looked back as the Moccasins took down visiting Gannon 20-13 in the 2014 home opener for Florida Southern women's lacrosse.
The Mocs' win puts their record at 2-0 on the young season, while the Knights drop to 0-2 after today's game. Gannon opened their season on Sunday, Mar. 2, with a 10-6 loss to Saint Leo.
Gannon kicked off the game with the opening goal at 27:11 on a free position shot, but Florida Southern scored the next seven goals to give themselves a very comfortable lead early in the half.
Junior Caitlin Chase (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) hooked up with junior Megan Asper (Parkton, Md.) for the first Moccasin goal of the game at 25:39 to even the score, while Chase scored the go-ahead goal at 24:31 on a free-position attempt to put the Mocs up for good.
Junior Lorianne Hoover (Annapolis, Md.) scored the first unassisted goal of the afternoon at 23:59 to put the Mocs up 3-1. Chase earned her second assist of the game off a goal from junior Maureen Cromer (Baltimore, Md.) at 16:22 to put the Mocs up by three around the mid-point of the first half.
Cromer struck again at 14:30 off a pass from freshman Chloe Cabigas (Maitland, Fla.) to continue the run of unanswered goals. Chase put up her second goal of the afternoon at 12:37 before she connected again with Asper 17 seconds later to put the Mocs up 7-1.
The Knights finally answered back at 8:47 to make it a six-goal game, but back-to-back goals by freshman Kendall Kerge (Edgewater, Fla.) kept Florida Southern ahead by seven with less than seven minutes to go before halftime.
Gannon scored back-to-back goals at 3:53 and :37 to pull to within five, but goals from Chase and sophomore Marissa Braden (Stuart, Fla.) with under 20 seconds remaining in the half gave the Moccasins an 11-4 lead going into the break.
The Knights scored the opening goal of the second half at 27:58 to pull to within six, but a three goal FSC run featuring two scores by junior Meghan Colucci (Glocester, R.I.) and one from freshman Parrisa Sakinejad (Millers, Md.) put the 11th-ranked Moccasins up 14-5 with 24 minutes still remaining in the half.
Gannon responded with back-to-back scores at 20:46 and 20:02 to pull to within seven of the Mocs, but Florida Southern continued to pour it on with another three-goal burst with Chase and Asper both scoring unassisted goals to pull ahead 17-7.
The visiting Knights scored at 12:07 to break the running clock, but the first-career goal by freshman Sarah Dibble (Sanford, Fla.) at 10:31 off a pass from Cromer put the Mocs back up by 10, causing the running-clock rule to be put into effect.
Gannon staged a comeback at 7:48 with five unanswered goals that cut the Moccasin lead to five, but a free-position goal by Hoover and an unassisted goal by Cromer in the last 44 seconds of the game gave the Mocs a 20-13 victory.
Asper and Chase each scored four goals in the win, with Chase also tallying six assists for 10 points. Cromer tallied three goals and one assist for four points off the bench, while Colucci and Hoover scored two goals and an assist each. Asper won 12 of the team's 20 draw controls and caused two turnovers, while senior Katie Hammerer (California, Md.) made seven saves in just over 39 minutes of play before being relieved by freshman Taylor Gillis (Bel Air, Md.).
While the Knights outshot the Moccasins (27-26) and collected more ground balls (13-12), FSC won 20 draw controls compared to 15 for Gannon, and Florida Southern limited the Knights to scoring on just 2-7 free-position attempts. The Knights also had four yellow cards on the afternoon, while the Moccasins only received one.
Christie Valentine led the Knights offense with six goals in the loss, while Kelsey Brown dished out five assists on the afternoon and Kimberly Neagle tallied four goals and one assist. Margaret Maslyn made one save in the loss before being spelled by Carly Shaw in the second half.
The 11th-ranked Mocs return to action this Thursday when they host Newberry College (0-3) at 10 a.m. The teams last played in 2012, with Florida Southern coming away with a 22-3 victory over the Wolves.
