The stage is set for the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Championship and is between the top-two seeds in the SSC and two of the top-ranked programs in the country, both falling in the top-12 of the latest Inside Lacrosse Women's / Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (ILWomen/IWLCA) Division II Poll. No. 11 Florida Southern College will be playing in the sixth straight SSC championship game, in as many years as the tournament has been held. The Moccasins will travel to overall top-seed, No. 12 the University of Tampa Sunday for a 12:00 pm. Start.
The first 100 Florida Southern students, with a valid FSC ID, will receive a pair of Florida Southern Sunglasses at the gate to cheer on both the women's and men's teams in the SSC title games. Following the matchup with the women's teams, the two institutions' men's programs will square off at 3:30 p.m.
Location: Tampa, Fla.
Stadium: Naimoli Family Athletic Complex
First Draw: 12:00 p.m.
Coverage: Live Stats –
www.fscmocs.com/stats; Video –
www.fscmocs.com/live
2nd Seed – The Moccasins – Roster | Schedule | Coaches | Statistics
Florida Southern improved to 9-2 all-time in Sunshine State Conference tournament games with the team's win over Rollins, 17-11, Thursday afternoon. The Moccasins saw three players score four goals in
Lizzy Lynch,
Hailey Daleo, and
Abby McFerren. In goal,
Patricia Werker earned the victory, tallying five saves in the final two quarters.
McFerren grabbed the team lead in points after Thursday's game where she stands at 70 for the season on 40 goals and 30 assists, a point ahead of the Mocs' leading scorer,
Hailey Daleo. Daleo is standing at 69 points with 50 goals and 19 assists.
Eight others are standing over 10 points on the season with
Madison Tare behind the two leaders with 61 points, followed by
Lizzy Lynch (59),
Brenna Smith (41),
Ellie Griffin (32),
Marlee Moon Gaddy (30),
Katie Yeagle (20),
Hannah Hale (14), and
Olivia Manghisi (12). Three players are just on the edge of double-digit points this season with
Madison Kennedy and
Sammy Gorrasi at nine points and
Elise Alders at eight.
In goal,
Patricia Werker is 8-3 on the year with 602 minutes logged and has 89 saves to her credit (42.4%).
Brittany Iamele is second on the team and is 6-0 in goal with 330:59 minutes played with 40 saves (44.4%).
1st Seed – The Spartans – Roster | Schedule | Coaches | Statistics
Tampa enters the championship game with an 11-6 overall record and on a six-game win streak, having won each game after suffering a loss to Florida Southern on April 6. The Spartans are 3-3 all-time in SSC tournament play having dropped the first three games in their first three appearances. In the last two tournaments, Tampa has gone 3-0 with two wins in 2019, on the way to the tournament title, and in the semifinal Thursday over Saint Leo. Madison Birch and Sarah Hinkle led the Spartans' offense with five and four goals, respectively, while Alex Walling earned the win with four saves in the full 60 minutes of action.
On the year, four players have over 50 points led by Birch with 63, on 57 goals and six assists. Right behind her is Hinkle with 57 points on 51 goals and six assists. Lizzie Pierpont (53), and Olivia Mott (50) round out the players with 50-plus-points. Mott stands as the team leader in assists with 31 this season.
In goal, Alex Walling has played the most minutes, 743:46, and is 6-6 this season with 106 saves (46.9%). Kyli Warnkin has seen 334:56 minutes and is 5-0 with 40 saves (44%).
Head-to-Head
Florida Southern holds an advantage in the head-to-head meeting with Tampa, 10-2, having won three in a row now heading into Sunday's game. The Spartans lone two wins came back in 2019 when Tampa won the regular-season matchup and the SSC championship game 19-18 in overtime.
The Mocs opened the series with seven straight victories and now have a three-game win streak after defeating the Spartans earlier this season.
In Tampa, Florida Southern is 4-1 all-time against the Spartans.
In tournament play, Florida Southern is 2-1 with wins in back-to-back semifinal games in 2016 and 2017, in which the Mocs went on to win the SSC title. Florida Southern bested Tampa 19-10 as the no. 1 seed in 2016 before topping the Spartans 19-12 the following year, 2017, as the no. 1 seed. In 2019, Tampa knocked off Florida Southern in overtime 19-18 as the no. 2 seed. This will be the first year the SSC Championship game is hosted outside of Lakeland; the first four years it was hosted at the overall top-seed, Florida Southern at Bryant Stadium, and in 2019 all games were hosted at the higher seed, Florida Southern being the no. 1 seed, it was hosted at Moccasins Field, now Berend Field.
Last Meeting
Earlier this year, on April 6, the two teams met in Lakeland where the Mocs came out on top, 23-19 in another top-15 battle.
Madison Tare and
Brenna Smith paced FSC's offense with five goals each while
Hailey Daleo and
Lizzy Lynch each had four. For the Spartans, it was Madison Birch who ripped off five goals in the loss with Sarah Hinkle right behind with four.
The game saw four goalies get action with
Patricia Werker getting the start and the win registering 11 saves in 54:28 minutes of action.
Brittany Iamele appeared for the Mocs in between the pipes for just over five minutes. Alex Walling suffered the loss in just 17:37 minutes of action tallying two saves while Kyli Warnkin played 42:23 and had four saves.
2022 SSC Tournament
The 2022 tournament opened Thursday with the No. 12 Tampa Spartans defeating No. 24 Saint Leo 19-6. That semifinal game was followed up by No. 11 Florida Southern defeating No. 14 Rollins 17-11 in Lakeland.
In the Spartans win over the Lions, Madison Birch tallied five goals to propel Tampa's offense to the win while Alex Walling made four saves on 10 shots.
In the Moccasins win over the Tars, three players,
Lizzy Lynch,
Hailey Daleo, and
Abby McFerren all tallied four goals to lead the offensive charge while in goal,
Brittany Iamele made the start and tallied two saves with
Patricia Werker taking over for the second 30 minutes and registering five saves for the win.
It's just the second time Tampa has advanced to the championship game, in which they won their first appearance in 2019 19-18 in overtime over the Moccasins. Florida Southern has appeared in every championship game, with a 3-2 record in the title game earning the crown in 2016, 12-11 against Rollins, 2017, 20-12 against Florida Tech, and in 2018, 15-7 against Florida Tech.
There was no Sunshine State Conference Championship tournament in 2020 or 2021 due to shortened seasons. This will be the first time the title game will be played in quarters after the game of women's lacrosse shifted to quarters.
