BOCA RATON, Fla. – Champions! No. 4 Florida Southern defeated No. 13 Lynn for the seventh win in Sunshine State Conference play to be crowned the outright champions of the 2024 SSC Regular season where the Moccasins solidified home field advantage and the no. 1 seed in the upcoming SSC tournament. It's the program's seventh regular season title, and fifth outright marking the first since the 2018 season.
Jackie Stoller guided No. 4 Florida Southern (14-3, 7-0 SSC) past No. 13 Lynn (12-4, 3-4 SSC) with nine points after notching six goals and three assists. She edged
Madison Tare who had eight points with five goals and three assists.
Abby McFerren scored once but dished out four assists to finish third on the team with five points.
Maria Reeves and
Jenna Vetter each netted a hattrick for three points.
Hannah Hale and
Sammy Gorrasi each scored a pair of goals to close the different goal scorers for the Moccasins. Hale added two assists to finish the game with four points.
Olivia Manghisi,
Kelsey Bennett, and
Brayden Cannelli all contributed a point in the game, each dishing out one assist.
Rylie Rittberg earned the win after playing 24:34 with three saves as
McKenzie Gaghan, who got the nod played 35:26 and made three stops.
Maria Reeves tied her career-high with 10 draw controls in the game.
Audrey Cannelli had a game-high four caused turnovers and four groundballs in the win.
Lynn saw Kristyn Johnson and Mallory Jarka each have seven points in the game where Johnson led the team with four goals and Jarka four assists. Becca Clark and Diane Dohler each had three goals and an assist ahead of Hannah Exley's two goals and assist. Olivia Fox and Elizabeth Tamasitis each scored in the game for the Fighting Knights, as Fox added one assist for two points.
Florida Southern got on the board first as
Abby McFerren found
Hannah Hale for the 1-0 lead 51-seconds into the game. Lynn answered back with two goals before
Jackie Stoller tied things up at two with 10:58 to play in the first quarter.
Both the Moccasins and Fighting Knights traded a pair of goals for a 4-4 game, 55-seconds before Lynn took a 5-4 lead. A pair of
Madison Tare goals and one by
Jenna Vetter pushed the Mocs ahead 7-5 with just 16-seconds to play in the opening frame. Lynn grabbed the ensuing draw and rushed down and scored to make it just a single goal game, 7-6, with a second left on the clock, pushing to the end of the first quarter.
Kristyn Johnson opened the scoring for the Knights and game in the second quarter to even the game at seven all before
Jackie Stoller gave the edge to Florida Southern, 8-7. Johnson would tie things up for a moment, but it was
Maria Reeves and Tare that gave the Mocs a two-goal advantage with 7:42 to play.
After an Olivia Fox (Lynn) goal at the 5:26 mark cut it to 10-9, Florida Southern rattled off five unanswered goals to close the frame. Stoller (2), McFerren, Reeves, and
Sammy Gorrasi all found the back of the net for the 15-9 halftime lead.
The Fighting Knights looked to have made the adjustment, opening the second half with a pair of goals, cutting into the deficit (15-11). The Moccasins put a stop to the momentum with three straight from Tare, Reeves, and Stoller to go back up by seven, 18-11. Over the final eight minutes, the teams traded goals as Gorrasi and Stoller scored again for the Mocs (20-13).
Florida Southern opened the final frame with back-to-back goals from Vetter and Hale before Lynn closed the game with its final four goals, to bring the game to its 22-17 final.
No. 4 Florida Southern earned the no. 1 seed in the upcoming Sunshine State Conference tournament where the Moccasins will take a bye for the first round before hosting the lowest remaining seed after the quarterfinals. The Mocs will host their opponent on April 25 for the SSC semifinals.
