Reber Earns Win #200; #6 Mocs Advance After Overtime Thriller Against #9 Flagler

LAKELAND, Fla. – For the third straight season, Florida Southern women's lacrosse opens the NCAA tournament with a First Round win as the sixth-ranked Moccasins defeated No. 9 Flagler College in overtime 16-15 at Berend Field Thursday morning. Thirteenth-year head coach Kara Reber earned her 200^th career win at Florida Southern where she now moves to 268-90 (.749) all-time in her 20^th collegiate coaching career.
 
Jackie Stoller scored 3:50 into the overtime period to push Florida Southern (16-4) into the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
 
Stoller finished the game as the team's leading goal scorer with four while also leading the team with five total points, adding an assist. Abby McFerren and Camden Frissora tied with four points in the game while Sammy Gorrasi added three. McFerren scored one goal and dished out three assists, including the game-winning goal to Stoller.  Frissora notched a hattrick in the win as Gorrasi matched Maria Reeves with two goals each.
 
Madison Tare, Hannah Hale, Kelsey Bennett, and McFerren all tallied a goal including defender Lauryn Rygiel who scored her 11^th career goal in transition and first career goal for the Moccasins.
 
Reeves won the draw-control battle for the Mocs with seven while Audrey Cannelli notched two with three groundballs. Olivia Gianakos paced the team in caused turnovers against the Saints with three, adding four draw controls and one groundball to her stat line.
 
McKenzie Gaghan moved to 15-4 in goal after playing 43:57 in goal and stopping five shots. Rylie Rittberg made an appearance in goal for 19:53 and registered one stop against Flagler.
 
Flagler (17-3) closes the season in overtime in its second straight NCAA tournament appearance. Carley Tepel paced the team with five goals while Sydney Onega matched her five points with three goals and two assists.
 
Ella Pinder tallied a game-high eight draw controls while Lauren Ribadeneira had a game-high six groundballs while playing the full 63:50 in goal, tallying 10 saves against the high-power Mocs.
 
Florida Southern opened the first round game with back-to-back goals one by Jackie Stoller and one by Abby McFerren to take a quick 2-0 lead. Flagler ripped off three straight to earn its first lead of the game with 9:10 to play but another Stoller goal tied things at 3-3.
 
Flagler again took a one-goal lead (4-3) but it was Florida Southern with three unanswered to close the first frame for a 6-4 lead.
 
The Saints cut the deficit to just one goal at the break with a four-goal second period to the Moccasins' three goals. After Florida Southern opened with a pair of goals, from Sammy Gorrasi and another Stoller goal, Flagler used two goals to get back within striking distance (8-6, FSC).
 
After a big stop on defense, Florida Southern took advantage of both teams switching players at the box as Abby McFerren finished a clear and found a driving Lauryn Rygiel scored at the 3:29 mark in the first half.
 
Flagler closed the period with two goals to make it 9-8 at the break.
 
Just like they finished the first half, the Saints opened the quarter scoring back-to-back goals to take a 10-9 lead but it was short lived as Camden Frissora and Kelsey Bennett scored goals to hand the host team an 11-10 lead.
 
The two teams traded goals over the final six minutes of action with Maria Reeves netting both for the Mocs in the closing seconds of the third quarter, as both teams scored four goals for the 13-12 FSC lead.
 
The final quarter in regulation would see Florida Southern grab a three-goal lead and what felt like the deflating period for Flagler, 15-12, with 11:17 to play. But the Saints charged and scored the game's next three goals to make it 15-15 as the quarter drew to a close.
 
Flagler won the opening draw in the golden goal overtime period and took a quick timeout with 5:04 on the clock. A play drawn up by third-year head coach Grant Kelam saw Ella Pinder break through the defense and have a 1-on-1 with Florida Southern's goalie, McKenzie Gaghan. Pinder ripped a shot and Gaghan came up huge with the stop before the Mocs transitioned to the middle of the field.
 
After a good clear, 13^th-year head coach Kara Reber called a timeout to set up the offense which saw Camden Frissora have a look at goal but the Saints' Ribadeneira got the stop to keep it tied 15-15.
 
Once the team's switched sides, and the ball went up to start the final three minutes of play, Lauryn Rygiel won the draw and the Mocs were off to the races. Abby McFerren received the ball and found a slicing Jackie Stoller who scored her 77^th goal of the season around Ribadeneria for the game-winning goal.
 
No. 6 Florida Southern will take on a familiar foe in No. 3 Tampa (16-3) at noon on Saturday, May 18 in the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Quarterfinal match at Berend Field.
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