Box Score LAKELAND – The ninth-ranked Florida Southern women's lacrosse team went toe-to-toe with the defending NCAA Division II national champions from Adelphi University Tuesday night, but fell just short in a 15-13 loss at Bryant Stadium.
The loss marked the first time in program history that the Moccasins (1-1, 0-0 SSC) faced the No.1 ranked team in the country. FSC is now 6-8 all-time against ranked opponents. Adelphi (2-0, 0-0 NE-10) has now won 24 consecutive games after going a perfect 22-0 en route to the title a year ago.
Fourth-year head coach Kara Reber was proud of the fight her team put up against the Panthers, who defeated Sunshine State Conference foe Rollins 15-6 in their season opener on Saturday.
"I think we had every opportunity to win that game, so the fact that we were able to compete with the No. 1 team in the nation definitely says a lot about the makeup of our team and how we'll play the rest of the season," Reber said.
Senior midfielder Lorianne Hoover (Annapolis, Md.) tied the game at 9-9 at the 20:42 mark in the second half. Adelphi head coach Pat McCabe responded by replacing junior goalkeeper Taylor Hayes – the 2014 Division II leader with a mere 4.81 goals-against average – with junior backup Taylor Langston. Langston allowed four goals and made four saves down the stretch to earn the win.
With Langston now between the pipes, Adelphi scored five of the next six goals to take its largest lead of the game at 14-10. The Mocs scored three unanswered in a span of 2:40 to come within one with five minutes to go, but the Panthers successfully played keep-away to waste the clock.
The Panthers had to intention of trying to score, so Reber pulled sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Gillis (Bel Air, Md.) to give the Mocs another defender to pressure the ball. While playing aggressively on defense in the final minutes, the Mocs drew six fouls and a pair of yellow cards. Adelphi eventually tacked on an empty-net goal with 38 seconds to go.
The first half was a back-and-forth tussle between the two teams. Adelphi scored only 1:11 into the game, but redshirt sophomore Allie Kryjak (Potomac, Md.) tied the game at 1-1 2:14 later. The Panthers took the lead back with a man-up goal from Emily Keesling.
Reigning SSC Offensive Player of the Week Megan Asper (Parkton, Md.) knotted the game up with her first of five goals. She was fouled going to the net after spinning past Felicia Mills. With the Mocs still down a player, Asper deposited the free-position shot to tie the game.
After the Panthers jumped ahead 6-3, Asper and fellow senior Caitlin Chase (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) scored 27 seconds apart to come within one. Rachel O'Brien, who scored a game-high seven points with five goals and two assists, scored back-to-back goals to give Adelphi another three-goal cushion, but Hoover made it 8-6 going into the break.
Adelphi opened the second half with another quick score out of the gate, taking a 9-6 advantage on a Mills goal 1:04 into the period.
The Mocs netted the next three in a span of 3:47 to draw the game even at 9-all. Asper scored the first pair at 24:29 and 22:15, the second on a free-position shot. Hoover tied the game at 20:42, forcing the goalie swap that sparked the late Adelphi run.
The Panthers outgained the Mocs 19-11 off the draw led by Mills with a game-high seven draw controls. Mills led Division II with 179 draw controls last season, and heading into the game, Reber knew she would be a force to contend with.
"We were concerned going into the game because she had 179 draw controls last year," Reber said. "We knew she was going to dominate on the draw. We tried to go anything to make it so the ball didn't go where she knew it was going. We just struggled to pick the ball up off the turf."
After coming off the bench to earn the win over No. Grand Valley State on the season-opener on Feb. 13, Gillis made seven saves, six in the second half, to give her team an opportunity for the upset as she attempts to fill the role of the graduated Katie Hammerer, a two-time Division II Goalkeeper of the Year.
"I thought she did a great job back there," said Reber of her goalie. "Certainly in the second half she picked it up and played really well for us. She gave us a chance to win tonight."
The Moccasins are back at Bryant Stadium on Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. to face Gannon (Pa.) (0-0). FSC is 2-0 all-time against Gannon, including a 20-13 win at home over the Golden Knights last season.
