WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The No. 11 Florida Southern College women's lacrosse team upended Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday afternoon, winning 22-3, their most dominant victory of the year.
The Moccasins (12-3, 4-2 SSC) were led by a staunch offensive effort that saw
Abby McFerren,
Madison Tare, and
Ellie Griffin each scored three times. The Sailfish (2-12, 0-7 SSC) couldn't muster many shots against a Moccasin defense that forced 27 turnovers. The Mocs wound up outshooting the opponent 37-12 by the end of the game.
Florida Southern played four different goalkeepers, with
Brittany Iamele earning the win, her sixth of the season.
The team opened the game on a six-goal scoring run, with McFerren and Tare each scoring all of their goals in the opening quarter.
Marlee Moon Gaddy and
Lizzy Lynch both scored in the first quarter as well, with the Mocs on top 8-1 after the first fifteen minutes.
In the second quarter,
Patricia Werker came into the game to guard the cage, making four saves.
Elise Alders opened the scoring before
Madison Kennedy,
Katie Yeagle,
Emma Dudley and
Hannah Hale each scored their first goals of the game. The Sailfish struck twice in the quarter as the Moccasins took a 13-3 lead into the locker room.
Ellie Griffin opened the scoring in the second half with a pair of goals while
Sydney O'Neill entered the game as goalkeeper. She would end up facing just one shot on goal, which she stopped. Lynch and Griffin scored back-to-back again in the third before
Olivia Manghisi found the back of the net with just six seconds to go in the quarter.
Sammy Gorrasi scored her third goal of the season to open the fourth quarter before Kennedy, Hale, and Manghisi each tallied their second goals of the game.
Rylie Rittberg played the entire fourth quarter in net for the Moccasins, making two saves to keep the Sailfish at bay.
The Mocs finished the game on an 11-goal scoring run as they shutout the Sailfish in the second half.
With the win today, Florida Southern moves to 4-2 in the conference, and move into a tie for second in the conference for tomorrow's big game against Lynn University. The Moccasins will secure a spot in the Sunshine State Conference tournament with a win tomorrow afternoon and will look to host in the first round of the semifinals on April 28
th.
Face-off for tomorrow's game will be at 12:00 p.m. at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.
