LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 7 Florida Southern Moccasins defeated the No. 5 Tampa Spartans 11-10 in a Sunshine State Conference showdown at Berend Field Friday afternoon.
With a one goal lead, and less than a minute to play, Tampa (8-3, 2-0 SSC) was looking to clear the ball from its defensive end. But it was
Jackie Stoller's lethal attack on defense that deflected the pass from Alex Walling and got fouled in the process to hand Florida Southern (9-3, 2-0 SSC) the ball in the offensive zone with 40 seconds to play and a full shot clock. The Moccasins would run out the clock as Stoller kept the ball away from the Spartans for the remaining 40 seconds of the game. Â
Ellie Griffin and
Jackie Stoller each scored three goals in the game to lead the Mocs past the Spartans where
Abby McFerren,
Hannah Hale,
Camden Frissora,
Sammy Gorrasi, and
Olivia Manghisi all scored one goal in the game. Stoller paced the team with four points, adding one assist to her tally, while
Madison Tare finished with a pair of points on two assists.
McKenzie Gaghan earned her ninth win of the year in goal, making seven huge saves against Tampa. She finished the game as the leader in groundballs with seven. The Moccasins took care of the ball having just 12 turnovers while forcing the Spartans to have 21.
The Spartans were led offensively by Gracie Colombo who had three goals ahead of Sarah Hinkle's pair. Alex Walling took her second loss of the season after playing the full 60 minutes making 12 stops.
Florida Southern opened the game with a strong 3-1 first quarter but a 4-2 second allowed for a 5-5 halftime score.
The Moccasins opened the game with a 3-0 lead as Stoller sandwiched Gorrasi's goal in the first 14 minutes of the game. Tampa squeaked in a goal with 13 ticks left in the opening frame.
Ellie Griffin registered the first goal in the second frame before the Spartans rattled off three straight to make it 4-4 with 3:53 to play.
Olivia Manghisi found the back of the net less than 40 seconds later to give the Mocs a quick 5-4 advantage that would remain the score up to the final seven seconds of the quarter. Tampa again got a late goal to tie it at five.
Tampa used the momentum into the third quarter scoring two goals to claim a 7-5 lead before Griffin cut it to 7-6 with 9:24 to go. Tampa answered but Florida Southern closed the third with three straight and a 9-8 lead heading to the fourth.
Stoller scored her 47
th goal of the season on a player-up opportunity to give Florida Southern a 10-8 lead before the Spartans' Sophi Wrisk cut it back to one goal, 10-9.
Hannah Hale's goal at the 10:20 mark pushed the game back to a two-goal difference, but Tampa again struck at 7:22 to bring the game to its final 11-10.
The Moccasins were able to withstand three looks from Tampa in the final seven minutes as two shots missed wide and another high from a free position shot. Florida Southern also forced a clock violation in the final minutes to keep the one-goal lead and a caused turnover from
Kolby Cohen.Â
No. 7 Florida Southern returns to action on April 3 in Daytona Beach, Fla. When the Moccasins travel to No. 9 Embry-Riddle for a 7 p.m. game.
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