For the first time since 2010, Florida Southern College women's soccer team has been selected to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship. After an exit in the Sunshine State Conference semifinals, the Moccasins earned an at-large bid to be the fourth seed in the NCAA South Region tournament to play the number five-seed Mississippi College.
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Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. – Hosted by Embry-Riddle
Field: ERAU Soccer Stadium
Kick-off: Friday, Nov. 11, 7:00 p.m. – Time has changed since original Thursday start time
Coverage: Live Stats -
www.fscmocs.com/stats; Video –Â
www.fscmocs.com/live; Tournament Central:
https://erauathletics.com/sports/2022/11/7/2022-womens-soccer-national-tournament.aspx
Tickets: https://erautickets.universitytickets.com/w/
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4th Seed – The Moccasins – Roster | Schedule | Coaches | Statistics
Florida Southern hosted the SSC Semifinal matchup against Florida Tech after the Mocs earned the first seed after the program's first regular-season title. The Mocs kept the game even through the first half of the postseason matchup, but the Panthers were first to score a few minutes into the second half. Undeterred, Florida Southern evened the game three minutes later with a header by
Morgan Elliott from a corner kick taken by
Caitlyn Lowery. After tied through double overtime, the game went to penalty kicks, where the Mocs fell 3-5 to the advancing Panthers.
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Despite the SSC tournament exit, Florida Southern maintained a 12-1-4 record to earn a spot in the program's fourth NCAA appearance, and first in 12 years. As a team, the Moccasins have scored 43 goals this season, averaging 2.53 a game, good for 22
nd among NCAA Division II programs in scoring offense and 26
th in total goals. Their opponents have only scored 11 goals through 17 games, a 0.65 average per game, on par for the lowest in school history, and 30
th in the NCAA. Other NCAA top 30 statistics include 19
th in assists per game (1.88), 23
rd in points per game (6.94), 29
th in total assists (32), 27
th in total points (118), and 14
th in win-loss-tie percentage at 0.824.
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5th Seed – The Choctaws - Roster | Schedule | Coaches | Statistics
Mississippi College earned its spot in the NCAA tournament with the automatic qualification by winning the Gulf South Conference Championship. The Choctaws entered the GSC Tournament as the second seed, taking down Christina Brothers 3-0 in the first round, and advanced in penalty kicks against West Alabama in the semifinal. MC took the championship with a 4-2 win over Lee, scoring all four goals in a span of eight minutes in the second half.
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The Choctaws are a high-scoring team, with a whopping 64 goals this season through 20 games. The 3.20 goals per game average is top three in the nation, as are shots on goal per game, total assists, total goals, and total points. They are led by Beatrice Currie and Erin Hederman, who combine for 30 of the team's goals. Hederman has 11 assists for a total of 39 points this season, second on the team in assists behind Avery Hederman's 16 assists. In goal, Sara Maleski has 0.85 goals against average, with 32 saves and six shutouts, and another two combined shutouts. The Choctaws had Currie, Avery and Erin Hederman, and Emma Young named to the All-GSC First Team, and MaryElla White to the Second Team.
FSC in the NCAA Tournament
The Mocs have appeared in the NCAA Championships three times in their history. A three-year run from 2008-2010 saw the Mocs in the first round of the South Regional. In 2008, Florida Southern took SSC opponent Florida Tech to penalties, where the Panthers advanced in the NCAA's 4-2. The 2009 season, FSC played North Alabama, where the Mocs fell 3-2, before again facing Florida Tech in the South Regional in 2010, with the same penalty kick result. Â
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The Matchup – FSC vs Mississippi College
The South Regional matchup will be the first time that either team has faced the other in program history. Both offensive powerhouses, the matchup is set to be a great one, featuring perhaps the only time in Division II history that each team will have a set of senior twins facing each other as the Lowery sisters take on the Hederman sisters from Mississippi College. Ironically both sets of twins have a forward star, with Avery Hederman a midfielder to
Brooke Lowery's defensive spot.
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Milestones Achieved
Florida Southern continues to shine this 2022 season, having already broken the record for most conference wins in a season (8) and the 12 wins on the season are also the most wins since 2009 when the Mocs went 12-8-1. FSC was awarded six All-SSC honors, including the program's first SSC Freshman of the Year with
Angelina Coelho. Coelho has been a key newcomer for the Mocs, netting six goals and an assist this season.
Morgan Collica was named the SSC Defensive Player of the Year, the second such award for the Moccasins after the backline held opponents to 0.65 goals a game. Head coach
Paul Lawrence became the second FSC coach to be named Coach of the Year leading the Mocs to a regular season title, after being picked to finish last in the preseason coaches poll. First Team selections included
Lindsey Meyer,
Morgan Collica, and
Caitlyn Lowery. Keeper
Jenny Staten was named to the Second Team.
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Staten has won two SSC Defensive Player of the Week awards, the first in school history for a goalie to win two SSC weekly awards in a single season, and the first since 2010 to win two POTW awards in a single season. She was named to the SSC All-Tournament team for her performance in the SSC semifinal against Florida Tech. Forward star
Caitlyn Lowery was named SSC Offensive Player of the Week a few weeks ago with the game-winner against Barry that gave the Mocs the regular season title. Individual leaders for the Mocs include C. Lowery, who is 13th in the nation for game-winning goals (5), and top 50 in total points. A combined nine shutouts this year (six with keeper
Jenny Staten), is the most in a single season in school history (the previous record was eight in 21 matches in the 2009 season). Staten moved into second all-time for FSC in career shutouts, with her career total of 16 thus far, behind 19 from Martina Tangen Billing (2008-11).
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Other games around the region:
#3 West Florida vs #6 Lee – 1:00 p.m. on Thursday
Following the first round, the winner will move on to the second round of the South Regional to face number one seed Embry-Riddle, to be played on Sunday, November 13
th. The winner of West Florida vs Lee game will move on to face the number two seed Nova Southeastern. The Elite Eight will take place with the winners of each region, with the NCAA Championship December 1-3 in Seattle, Washington.
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