LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 4 Florida Southern women's lacrosse used a strong second and third quarter to pull away from No. 20 Florida Tech Wednesday night at Berend Field for the 18-7 win in the Moccasins' final regular season home game.
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No. 4 Florida Southern (12-3, 5-0 SSC) saw 12 different goal scorers in the 18-goal game where
Jackie Stoller led the contingent with three goals. Four other players –
Kolby Cohen,
Hannah Hale,
Sammy Gorrasi, and
Jenna Vetter – each found the back of the net twice, asÂ
Madison Tare,
Abby McFerren,
Ellie Griffin,
Kaylee Stoky,
Hailey O'Donoghue,
Chloe Webber, and
Olivia Manghisi each scored in the win.
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Stoller paced the team with four points adding an assist while Hale tied with four tallying two assists on the night. Gorrasi and Cohen each had an assist to finish with three points.
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McKenzie Gaghan picked up her 12
th win of the year in goal, playing the first 30 minutes where the Mocs held the Panthers to just three first-half goals.
Rylie Rittberg came in for the final 30 minutes and picked up two saves allowing just four goals.
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No. 20 Florida Tech (7-8, 1-4 SSC) had five different goal scorers in the game. Kayla Minton completed the hat trick as the lone multi-goal scorer for the Panthers. Sophia Scichlione finished the game with two points, registering two assists to lead the team.
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Madison Tare got things rolling for the Moccasins with a goal 48 seconds into the game. The Panthers returned fire with a goal a minute later but back-to-back goals from Cohen pushed Florida Southern to a 3-1 lead. Florida Tech outscored Southern 2-1 in the final 5:22 as the first quarter ended, 4-3 FSC.
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Florida Southern turned on the heat and used a 6-0 frame to jump all over Florida Tech and take a commanding 10-3 lead into the halftime. Six different players punched a goal in the quarter starting with
Abby McFerren.
Sammy Gorrasi,
Ellie Griffin,
Hannah Hale,
Olivia Manghisi, and
Jenna Vetter followed in succession.
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The Moccasins opened the third with a pair of player-up goals from Hale and Gorrasi before Florida Tech's goal at 7:35. Stoller went back-to-back for Florida Southern to start the running clock, 14-4, with 4:34 left. Manghisi would find Vetter cutting to the net for the Moccasins' 15
th goal of the game.
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The Panthers opened the fourth quarter strong with a pair of goals to cut it to 15-6 but
Chloe Webber took a pass from
Danielle Mojsej and got the clock running again as it moved to a 16-6 game, in favor of Florida Southern. Kayla Minton scored her third goal for Florida Tech at 5:23 to cut it to nine goals (16-7), but
Hailey O'Donoghue took a free position shot and buried it into the net for a 17-7 game.
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With 1:02 remaining,
Kaylee Stoky scored her free position goal to bring the game to the eventual final, 18-7.
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No. 4 Florida Southern hits the road for the final two games of the regular season; at Palm Beach Atlantic on April 13 (1 PM) and at No. 16 Lynn on April 16 (4 PM). Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Sunshine State Conference tournament, featuring eight teams, starts with quarterfinal play on April 20
th.
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