MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 3 Florida Southern ended its regular season on a six-game win streak after pulling away from the No. 21 Florida Tech Panthers Tuesday night at Rick Stottler Field, 22-10. The Moccasins finish with a 16-1 overall record and 6-1 mark in Sunshine State Conference play to share the regular season title.
It's the 12
th overall Sunshine State Conference title for Florida Southern, eighth regular season, and four tournament titles. The Moccasins will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SSC tournament, earning a bye to the semifinal round set for April 24.
Abby McFerren paced the Moccasins with a career night to close out her final regular-season game in a Moccasin uniform. McFerren, a graduate student from York, Pa., posted a career-high in both points (10) and goals (8). Her eight goals are tied for the second most individually in program history with Kendall Kerge.
Sunshine State Conference and IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week
Maria Reeves won 21 draw controls to conclude the regular season with 169, with back-to-back games of 20 or more. Her 21 increases her FSC record and career record for draw controls in a game. Reeves' 169 draw controls on the season set a new FSC program record, surpassing Dani Bursinger's 153 she set in the 2017 season.
Behind McFerren's monstrous game of 10 total points,
Jenna Vetter went off for five points on four goals and one assist, tying
Hannah Hale with five points with two goals and three assists.
Giana Murphy kept her streak alive with a hat-trick Tuesday night while
Hanna Watson,
Hannah Guerin,
Danielle Mojsej,
Casey Falduto, and
Peyton Sutton all scored in the game.
Audrey Cannelli was second on the team in draws (4) but finished on top with three ground balls while
Brayden Cannelli was third in draws with a pair. The Lucas' twins,
Isabelle Lucas and
Julia Lucas, tied with
Hannah Hale and Kolby Cohen with two groundballs in the win.
Chloe Webber started the game in goal and earned her third win while her and
Rebekah Bargeron each made three saves against the Panthers.
No. 21 Florida Tech drops to 6-12 overall and 2-6 in SSC play. Sophia Scichilone and Gillian Craig paced the Panthers with nine collective points, where Craig scored four goals and Scichilone had three goals and two assists. Bridget Robinson played the full 60 minutes in goal and suffered the loss while making nine saves.
The Moccasins and the Panthers played a tight first quarter, 5-3 in favor of Florida Southern, where the second quarter was a one-goal difference, leaving the teams with a 10-7 score at the halftime break. The Moccasins locked in and held the Panthers to just three second-half goals, two in the third and one in the fourth, while Florida Southern exploded for 12 in the final 30 minutes. The Moccasins found the back of the net five times in the third quarter and seven times in the final frame for the 22-10 final.
Florida Tech came to play as the Panthers opened the game with a goal before
Hannah Guerin answered a minute later. Florida Tech reclaimed the lead once again at 6:09, but Florida Southern's
Giana Murphy got on the board from a pass from
Hannah Hale at 5:41.
Abby McFerren scored back-to-back goals for a 4-2 lead, and the Moccasins never looked back. Florida Southern would get one last goal in the frame from
Jenna Vetter to close the period on top, 5-3.
Three straight Moc goals from Hale, Vetter, and McFerren extended the lead to 8-3 before back-to-back Panther goals brought it to within three, 8-5, with 7:34 to play. Murphy killed the spree 26 seconds later (9-5) before Scichilone put the Panthers back within striking distance, 9-6. McFerren would score another in the quarter for the Mocs' 10
th goal before Craig closed the period with a goal at 2:49, FSC leading 10-7.
A fired-up red-hot Moccasin team came firing on all cylinders out of the break, scoring five goals to the Panthers two. McFerren (2), Vetter, Murphy, and
Danielle Mojsej all found the back of the net in the quarter, leaving the Mocs in front, 15-9.
Florida Southern closed the door on Florida Tech with seven goals in the final quarter as McFerren started things off again before
Hanna Watson, Vetter, Hale,
Casey Falduto, and
Peyton Sutton all put the ball in the back of the net in Florida Southern's 22-10 victory.
The final SSC women's lacrosse game is scheduled to be played Wednesday at 4 p.m. between Embry-Riddle and Lynn in Daytona Beach.
