Box Score
AUBURNDALE, FL – Coming into the first week of October, Alexa Moberley had yet to tally a goal this season, though the sophomore forward had been a big part of the team's early success and was leading the Moccasins in assists. Four days and two games into the new month, Moberley has now put four goals on the board, with two of them coming Wednesday night in Florida Southern's 2-0 win over Florida Tech.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Florida Southern (6-1-1, 3-1 Sunshine State Conference) struck for its first goal in the 27th minute on its fifth corner kick of the game. Jess Goedde put the ball in play, and though the Panthers (5-3-1, 2-2) defended the initial kick, the Moccasins still turned it into a goal when Moberley connected from the right side of the box for her third goal of the season.
- Moberley's second goal came early in the second half. After the Moccasins turned away a Florida Tech attack on the other end of the field, Caitlin Quaempts initiated a break-away with a pass down the center that Moberley collected near the center circle. Taking it the rest of the way, and with one defender giving chase, she beat Florida Tech goalkeeper Karlyn Prisco 1-on-1 to put the Mocs ahead 2-0.
- The Moccasins nearly found the back of the net earlier in the match, but the Panthers withstood two strong attempts by Quaempts and Chloe Hamm in the 23rd minute. Following a corner kick, Quaempts had a shot blocked by Nicole Barnett at the near post, and Hamm's header on another corner carried just wide.
- Even though Florida Southern led 1-0 at halftime, the Panthers held a 9-6 advantage in shots taken, forcing Helena Norrstrom into five first-half saves. The Panthers ended up with nine more shots in the second half, but only one of those was on target, resulting in a six-save night for the Mocs' senior goalkeeper.
- Florida Tech out-shot Florida Southern 18-10, but the Moccasins had an even more striking advantage in corner kicks at 12-3, virtually evening out the scoring chances.
- After the Moccasins took a 2-0 lead, the defense came up with several big plays to keep the Panthers off the board. During that time, Candace Metcalfe took the brunt of a free kick taken by SSC scoring leader Maria Munoz near the top of the box in the 61st minute, Elanee Otto blocked another Munoz shot in the 71st, and Jess Goedde did the same against Keira McCarthy in the 74th.
- Following Goedde's play, the Panthers had just one more shot the rest of the match, with Kiana Zanganeh sending a long free kick high and wide in the 81st minute. With Gaelyn Crowder and Juliana Guida also doing their part on the back line, that allowed the Moccasins to close out their fourth shutout of the season, and second in conference play.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- The Moccasins extended their winning streak to five games, their longest since winning a school-record 11 in a row in 2008.
- The last time the Moccasins had four shutouts in a season was in 2014, with all four coming in their first six games that year. They had five in both 2013 and 2012.
- Florida Southern's six wins are the most since 2012 when they went 6-8-4. They are also 6-1-1 in their first eight games for the first time ever, surpassing a 6-2 start in 2008, a year in which the Mocs had already played eight games by September 19. The last time they were 3-1 in conference play was 2010.
- Florida Southern beat Florida Tech for the first since a 2-0 win in 2013. The last nine meetings have ended in a shutout for one team or the other. Florida Tech still leads the series 11-7-3.
- After scoring two goals in a 4-1 win over Spring Hill on Monday and two more on Wednesday night, Moberley is only the second Moccasin with back-to-back multi-goal games in their 20-year history. The last to do so was Amanda Wetherbee in October of 2004. Wetherbee scored twice in a 5-0 win over West Georgia before recording a hat trick in a 4-1 victory at Florida Tech.
UP NEXT
Florida Southern will be at the Lake Myrtle Sports Park again Saturday night against Nova Southeastern. Game time is 7 p.m.
