#4 Mocs Fall Just Short at #5 Spartans in Tough Top-5 Battle

TAMPA, Fla. – A top-five Division II women's lacrosse matchup at Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex saw the fourth-ranked Florida Southern Moccasins fall 15-14 to the fifth-ranked Tampa Spartans Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Mocs (10-2, 1-1 SSC) dropped its second game, the first Sunshine State Conference game of the season, to the Spartans (11-2, 3-0 SSC) on the road.
 
Madison Tare paced the Mocs with a game-high six goals while adding two assists for a game-high eight points. Jackie Stoller added three goals on the day while Lizzy Lynch had two. Abby McFerren, Sammy Gorrasi, and Hailey Daleo all found the back of the net once.
 
Rylie Rittberg got the nod between the pipes, but it was Sydney O'Neill who played the majority of the game and had a strong showing with 12 stops, including multiple free position attempts late in the game from the Spartans.
 
The two teams traded goals in the early minutes of the opening stanza. Tare had four first quarter, to challenge the Spartans' offense and spark the Moccasins. Tied at four, Tampa would rattle off three unanswered goals to end the first to take a 7-4 lead.
 
Jackie Stoller had back-to-back goals for the Mocs to cut the deficit to 8-6 before Tampa answered just over a minute later to take a three-goal lead, 9-6 into the final nine minutes of the first half.
 
Madison Tare would again find the back of the net to make it 9-7 before Hailey Daleo scored her first goal off a pass from Ellie Griffin to make it 9-8 with three minutes to go. The Spartans got a late second-quarter goal to head into the half leading 10-8.
 
The Moccasins would see Lizzy Lynch earn a free position where she converted, for a 10-9 game, 50-seconds before Stoller scored to tie the game at 10-10.  The two top offenses in the conference battled it out for the final eight minutes of the quarter, trading goals to head to the fourth tied at 12.
 
Tampa opened the final quarter with a goal three and a half minutes in, to regain a 13-12 lead, but again the Mocs rallied back to tie it at 13 with another Lynch goal. Stoller picked up a loose ball in the midfield where head coach Kara Reber called time right outside the offensive box. On the ensuing possession, Stoller cut to the goal as Lynch flashed around the back side for a quick score.
 
The Spartans scored just under a minute later to take the 14-13 lead once again. Tare would again earn another free position attempt and bury it into the back of the net to tie it with 7:50 to play. The Spartans scored 50 seconds later to take a 15-14 lead.
 
Florida Southern had several chances come up just short, while Sydney O'Neill had major saves late in the game to keep the Mocs down by one. With just three minutes to play, Tampa was awarded a late reset on the shot clock that all but allowed the Spartans to run out the clock completely, leaving just six seconds and a full field to go. Tampa took home the 15-14 win and just the third win over Florida Southern in the 14-game series.
 
No. 4 Florida Southern will look to bounce back quickly, as the Moccasins host No. 7 Rollins on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Berend Field and the Barnett Athletic Complex.
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