#6 Mocs Fall in the Quarterfinals to #3 Spartans

LAKELAND, Fla. – Despite outscoring No. 3 Tampa 7-3 in the second half and mounting a comeback, No. 6 Florida Southern dropped the NCAA Quarterfinal matchup to the Spartans 11-9 at Berend Field Saturday afternoon.
 
Florida Southern (16-5) scored seven of its nine goals in the second half to attempt a comeback including four goals in the fourth quarter. The Moccasins' defense held Tampa (17-3) to just two goals in the second half, but the Spartans' 9-2 lead at halftime proved to be the difference.
 
Abby McFerren and Sammy Gorrasi paced the Moccasins attack with three goals apiece while Madison Tare added two and Jackie Stoller one. All four players finished with at least an assist in the game as McFerren and Gorrasi finished the contest with four points adding one assist to their stat line. Stoller registered two assists as Tare had one, both finishing with three points.
 
Rylie Rittberg came in goal and played 35:29 allowing just four goals, making six stops in her relief appearance. McKenzie Gaghan got the nod and played the first 23:27 making one stop in the game.
 
Audrey Cannelli paced the team in caused turnovers with four while Olivia Gianakos and Lauryn Rygiel each tallied three groundballs for the team lead.
 
Tampa was led offensively by Sarah Hinkle and Gracie Colombo who each scored a hattrick in the win. Peyton Howell had a game-high five points on a pair of goals and three assists.
 
Alex Walling made seven stops in her 60 minutes of action. Cece Colombo had a game-high 10 draw controls in the Spartans' efforts to win the draw battle 14-8.
 
It took two and a half minutes for either team to register a goal, as the Moccasins struck first with an Abby McFerren free-position goal to the top right corner. The Spartans would score the game's next seven goals for a commanding 7-1 lead with over seven minutes to play in the second quarter.
 
Sammy Gorrasi would find a cutting Madison Tare as the Mocs cut the deficit to 7-2, but another pair of Spartan goals pushed it to 9-2 heading into the break.
 
Halftime adjustments allowed Florida Southern to come out and score three straight goals, a pair from Gorrasi and one from McFerren (9-5). Tampa would score back-to-back goals in the game, to close the third and open the fourth, reclaiming an 11-5 advantage.
 
With the game approaching less than 10 minutes to play, Florida Southern would score four goals up to the 1:28 mark to make it just a two-goal game. McFerren would find Stoller cutting down the middle of the field for a goal before scoring another one herself. Tare and Gorrasi would score in the run but time would run out as the Spartans advanced to the National Semifinals for the first time in program history, facing one of the other three teams after reseeding: Adelphi, East Stroudsburg, or Regis (CO).
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