#4 Mocs Host #12 Fighting Knights for SSC Semifinal

No. 4 Florida Southern women's lacrosse hosts No. 12 Lynn for the 2024 Sunshine State Conference semifinals at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 25 at Berend Field.
 
Sitting atop the league standings after the seven regular season games with a 7-0 record, the Moccasins earned the no. 1 seed overall. Florida Southern received a bye for the first round along with second-seeded No. 5 Tampa. Third seed No. 13 Saint Leo won its first-round game against sixth-seeded Embry-Riddle 15-9 (April 20) while the fourth-seeded #12 Fighting Knights defeated the fifth-seeded Rollins by one, 12-11 in overtime.
 
No. 4 Florida Southern posted a 14-3 mark in the regular season with a 7-0 league record. The Moccasins have 11 wins over top-25 opponents including a pair of top-10 wins over no. 9 Flagler (23-16) to open the year and over no. 5 Tampa (11-10) on March 29.
 
The Mocs have had four players earn SSC Players of the Week while Jackie Stoller was tabbed the IWLCA and USA Lacrosse Player of the Week on Feb. 20.
 
Stoller, a graduate student from Wayland, Mass., leads the team in points (105), goals (67), and assists (38), while also having the team-best 41 points in league games with 27 goals and 14 assists to top the team's SSC stats. Through the regular season, Stoller led the league in goals and sits behind Caroline Gastonguay by four, heading into the final game. Her 105 points rank third in the country and first overall in the league with a 6.18 average per game, topping the league and sitting fifth in the country.
 
Madison Tare and Abby McFerren join Stoller with over 50 points on the season as Tare sits with 70 heading into the semifinal matchup with McFerren at 62. Tare scored 55 goals with 15 assists, and McFerren scored 33 with 29 assists through 17 games.
 
Seven Mocs have double-digit caused turnovers led by Brayden Cannelli with 19. Cannelli is tied for second in draw controls on the season with Maria Reeves at 42, trailing freshman Kolby Cohen's 55. McKenzie Gaghan leads the Moccasins in groundballs with 34 and Caitlin Murphy is in second with 27.
 
In goal, Gaghan is 13-3 overall having appeared in all 17 games with a 11.62 goals-against average with 81 saves (.365 save percentage).
 
No. 12 Lynn concluded the regular season at 12-4 overall and 3-4 in league play before picking up win #13 over Rollins in overtime (12-11) on April 20. The Fighting Knights have just four wins over top-20 opponents with a pair of wins over then-8^th-ranked teams Flagler (15-10) and Embry-Riddle (17-16).
 
Kristyn Johnson leads the Knights in goals (67) and goals per game (3.94) which sit top two in the league standings and are third in the SSC in points per game at 4.94. Mallory Jarka has a team-leading 36 assists and averages 2.40 per game to sit second in the conference.
 
In goal, three Knights have shared time where Callista Elica holds a 7-3 record ahead of Katelyn Andrews' 4-1 mark and Reagan Stewart's 1-0 record. Elica is fifth in the league in goals against average at 11.39 in 11 games played while Andrews is sixth with 11.45 GGA. Elica averages a .394 save percentage, sixth best in the league with 67 saves on 216 shots faced.  
 
Head-to-Head: Florida Southern 5-0
Florida Southern holds a 5-0 record against Lynn all-time including a 3-0 mark while both programs are ranked in the top-25. Earlier this season, the Moccasins defeated the Fighting Knights 22-17 with Jackie Stoller leading the charge with nine points on six goals and three assists. Madison Tare was close behind with eight points on give goals and three assists. Abby McFerren finished third on the team in points (5) but had a team-best four assists in the road win on April 16.
 
Tournament History
The Mocs boast an 11-3 record all-time in tournament play with four SSC tournament titles to lead the league's wins, appearances (8), and championship crowns (4).
 
The Fighting Knights earned their first win in league tournament history with its first appearance this year.
 
Florida Southern has tournament wins in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2022 when the Mocs defeated Tampa 20-10 in Tampa.
 
NCAA Regional Rankings
With the first regional rankings released on April 24, alphabetically, five Sunshine State Conference programs are in the six teams to be considered with Florida Southern, Tampa, Lynn, Saint Leo, and Embry-Riddle representing the league. The five schools are joined by Flagler out of the Gulf South Conference.