LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 5 Florida Southern College women's lacrosse team defeated Palm Beach Atlantic University 21-6 Saturday afternoon at Berend Field.
The Moccasins (15-2, 6-1 SSC) closed out the regular season, stifling the visiting Sailfish (3-12, 0-7 SSC) after a program-best 11 first-quarter goals.
Goalkeepers
Sydney O'Neill and
Rylie Rittberg split time in the cage, although neither was particularly busy as the Moccasins recorded 16 caused turnovers, holding PBA to just 6-of-19 clears, and allowing just 11 shot attempts.
Graduate student
Gina Verrone recorded a pair of caused turnovers with five draw controls, while
Jackie Stoller led the team offensively with four goals and an assist on the afternoon.
The Moccasins were able to jump out to an early advantage, with
Maria Reeves and
Abby McFerren finding chemistry on the draw, as McFerren secured the first four draw controls of the game.
Stoller scored twice in the opening minute on two free-position goals to give the Mocs the early advantage, and
Madison Tare followed suit with a pair of tallies in the same fashion.
McFerren joined the scoring frenzy, adding a pair of goals herself in the first five minutes of the game to give the Moccasins a 6-0 lead.
Senior
Olivia Manghisi notched another goal on a free-position shot to bring the lead to seven goals, still with over ten minutes to play in the opening quarter. After a relatively lengthy scoring drought between both teams,
Hailey Daleo scored her first of three goals on the day, making it 8-0 with six minutes to go.
The Sailfish would get on the board on the ensuing draw control, but freshman
Kenzie Streby tallied on a free-position attempt, scoring her first career goal to put the Mocs up 9-1.
Daleo tacked on another before freshman
Casey Falduto deposited her third goal of the year into the back of the net, cueing the running clock with just over three minutes to play in the first quarter. The 11 goals were the most scored in any quarter in program history.
Palm Beach Atlantic added on another goal to make it an 11-2 contest heading into the second quarter. The Sailfish scored the first goal of the second frame, but the Mocs responded with another tirade of tallies.
Senior
Elise Alders notched her third goal of the year before Falduto and Stoller each scored again, making it 14-3 midway through the frame.
PBA was able to get another goal back, but Stoller answered the score with her fourth of the game as the clock ran out in the first half, the Moccasins leading 15-4.
Florida Southern was able to coast to victory over the course of the second half, as
Giana Murphy and
Hannah Hale each scored in the third quarter while Daleo added another, with the Mocs hanging on to a comfortable 18-6 lead headed into the final frame.
Alders added another tally in the fourth quarter before freshman
Chloe Webber scored on a free position attempt to give the Mocs their third straight 20-goal outing, leading the Sailfish by 14.
Freshman
Mia Rosso put the exclamation point on the statement victory, scoring her first career goal in the final two minutes of play to give the Moccasins a 21-6 lead, one that would suffice until the final horn.
With the regular season in the rear view, the Moccasins will now turn their attention to the Sunshine State Conference tournament, which will begin this Thursday.
The Moccasins earned the second seed in the conference and will host the third-seeded Rollins College Tars on Thursday night, with the first draw control set for 7 p.m. at Berend Field.
Florida Southern beat Rollins in the first meeting between the two teams by a final score of 17-15 on April 8.
