LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 7 Florida Southern women's lacrosse had a strong first half to get past Lee University at Berend Field Thursday night, 19-10. The Moccasins' 13-goal first half proved enough as Florida Southern extinguished the Lee U Flames for its sixth win.
Florida Southern (6-3) used a 5-2 first quarter to open up a comfortable lead before piling on eight goals to Lee's (6-4) two, and never turned back as both teams scored five in the third and one in the fourth.
The reigning Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week,
Jackie Stoller turned in another great performance notching seven points to lead both teams on four goals and three assists.
Hannah Hale registered a four-point performance with a pair of goals and assists while
Ellie Griffin,
Abby McFerren, and
Emma Dudley all had three points in the game. Griffin secured the hattrick as Dudley scored twice and McFerren once.
Audrey Cannelli and Griffin combined for nine of the Moccasins' 16 draw controls while
McKenzie Gaghan,
Rylie Rittberg, and Hale led the team with three groundballs each. Gaghan earned the win in goal to move to 6-3 on the season. Rittberg played the final 30 minutes of the game and made three saves in relief.
Lee's Callie Curtis paced the team with four points with four goals on six shots while Maggie Luzier went for three points, two goals, and one assist. Noelle Harrington, Brittney White, and Kamille Kremakau combined for the Flames' final four goals.
Jackie Stoller opened the game with a goal in the first 15 seconds before Lee's Maggie Luzier answered to tie things at one a minute and a half later. Florida Southern rattled off four straight goals to take the 5-1 lead before the Flames closed the frame with a goal with 1:11 to play, 5-2.
The Moccasins' 8-goal second started with five-unanswered to take a commanding 10-2 lead before a pair of Lee goals cut it to 10-4 with 5:26 to go.
Emma Dudley,
Hannah Hale, and
Elise Alders closed the half with three goals for the Mocs and a 13-4 break.
Lee brought the momentum into the third quarter, opening with a pair of goals before
Madison Tare found the net for the second time in the game to stop the quick run. The Flames burst back into the net with another two goals to make it 14-8 before Dudley, Hale, and Stoller scored for Florida Southern, 17-8. Both teams traded goals in the final minute as Alders scored with 11 seconds left for an 18-9 lead.
Ellie Griffin's goal at the 13:58 mark gave the Moccasins a running clock (19-9), which they held until Lee scored the game's final goal at the 4:09 mark. Neither team found the back of the net in the final four minutes as the Moccasins went on for the 19-10 win.
No. 7 Florida Southern remains at home and welcomes No. 14 Bentley on Saturday, March 16 at 11:00 am as the Moccasins will honor five seniors –
Gabriella Connelly,
Emma Dudley,
Hannah Hale,
Ryan Kelly, and
Abby McFerren - in a pregame ceremony for senior day.
