WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – No. 4 Florida Southern women's lacrosse traveled to Palm Beach Atlantic and handled the Sailfish 19-5 after posting 14 goals in the first half at the PBA Lacrosse Field. The win gives the Moccasins at least a share of the Sunshine State Conference regular season title while it also hands Florida Southern the no. 1 seed in the SSC tournament. The SSC title will be the program's 11th overall, winning the seventh regular season championships and first since co-champions were crowned in 2021.
Florida Southern moves to 6-0 in league play with just one game remaining and is 13-3 overall. The Moccasins scattered 41 shots in the game while holding the Sailfish to just 14 as
McKenzie Gaghan and
Rylie Rittberg combined for six saves. Gaghan, who got the start and earned her 13
th win of the season, held the Sailfish off the board in her 15 minutes of action while tallying one save before turning it over to Rittberg for the final three quarters amassing five saves in 45 minutes of action.
For the second straight game, Florida Southern saw 12 different goal scorers where
Madison Tare and
Jackie Stoller led the team with three goals each. Tare paced the team with six points, adding three assists. Stoller dished out one assist to finish second on the team in total points with four.
Five other players concluded the game with two points as
Abby McFerren,
Camden Frissora, and
Olivia Manghisi each scored twice for their two points.
Sabrina Diaz and
Jenna Vetter tallied two points with a goal and an assist each.
Danielle Mojsej,
Kelsey Bennett,
Kaylee Stoky,
Maria Reeves, and
Chloe Webber closed the Moccasins' scoring column all netting a goal in the game.
PBA (3-11, 0-7 SSC) saw the season leader Rachel Delate tally three goals and end the season with 49 total goals.
It took two minutes and 48 seconds for a ball to find the back of the net.
Olivia Manghisi scooped up a ricochet off a shot and finished in the bottom of the net for the early 1-0 lead. From there, the Moccasins'
Abby McFerren scored back-to-back goals to make it 3-0 as Florida Southern buried four more from
Madison Tare (x2), Manghisi, and
Kelsey Bennett to end the 7-0 run to open the game.
Florida Southern started the second much like the first controlling the tempo and scoring the frame's first six goals to take a commanding 13-0 lead.
Camden Frissora would score two in the run, Tare once, and
Jackie Stoller a hattrick in the first eight minutes of the quarter. Palm Beach Atlantic scored its first goal at the 2:05 mark, but
Jenna Vetter ended the half with the final goal at 0:24 as the Mocs headed into the halftime break up 14-1.
Halftime adjustments for the Sailfish allowed for the first two goals of the quarter, cutting the deficit to 14-3 but a three-goal run from Florida Southern extended the Mocs lead to 17-3.
Chloe Webber scored in her second straight game with a goal at the 7:55 mark before
Danielle Mojsej and
Maria Reeves each scored to close the third quarter.
Both teams tacked on two goals in the final frame as
Kaylee Stoky and
Sabrina Diaz scored for the Mocs to bring the score to its final 19-5.
No. 4 Florida Southern will close the regular season out on Tuesday, April 16 at No. 13 Lynn (12-3, 3-3 SSC). The Moccasins have a chance to clinch the regular season Sunshine State Conference Championship outright with a win over the Fighting Knights.
