#3 Mocs Fall in SSC Championship Game to #1 Spartans

TAMPA, Fla. – No. 3 Florida Southern women's lacrosse came up just short in the 2025 Sunshine State Conference Championship game, presented by Pollo Campero, 15-13 to No. 1 Tampa at the Naimoli Family Athletic & Intramural Complex Sunday afternoon.
 
Following the conclusion of the game, Florida Southern's Brayden Cannelli, Abby McFerren, and Maria Reeves were named to the SSC All-Tournament Team.
 
Florida Southern moves to 17-2 overall as Tampa goes to 17-1 after the 15-13 game in favor of the Spartans. In the loss, Abby McFerren paced the Moccasins with four points on two goals and two assists. Danielle Mojsej led the team in scoring with a hattrick (3) while Hannah Hale and Giana Murphy were next with two goals apiece. Kolby Cohen, Jenna Vetter, Grace Curtin, and Hannah Guerin each scored one goal. Hale dished out one assist for three points in the game while Cohen had one assist to finish with two points.
 
The Moccasins won 23 draw controls to the Spartans' nine as Maria Reeves earned 10 wins ahead of Brayden Cannelli's six. Audrey Cannelli finished with three while Abby McFerren (2), Jenna Vetter (1), and Charlie Laye (1) were all tabbed with wins on the day.
 
Despite taking the loss in goal, Chloe Webber put up eight saves in 47:14 minutes while Rebekah Bargeron tallied one save in 10:27.
 
Peyton Howell paced Tampa with six points on four goals and two assists, while Maddie Szyluk had four goals in the win. Mekelsey Montgomery, Mary Kate Person, and Sophi Wrisk all tallied two goals, with Kaylee VanVladricken scoring once. Savvy Barbosa earned the win between the pipes after playing 60 minutes with six saves.
 
Florida Southern and Tampa played to a 3-3 tie in the opening period as the Spartans jumped out in front with a goal at 11:48 from Sophi Wrisk. Abby McFerren found the back of the net to tie it at 1-1 with just over 10 minutes to play. McFerren then found a cutting Hannah Guerin as the Mocs took an early 2-1 lead with 5:35 to play in the period. Back-to-back Tampa goals pushed the Spartans ahead, 3-2, with under a minute to play, which looked like the Spartans winning the first period. McFerren connected with Kolby Cohen with 33 seconds left to tie the period up at 3-3.
 
Tampa looked to pull away in the second with four goals to Florida Southern's one from Jenna Vetter with under eight minutes to play, 7-4. Danielle Mojsej rolled the crease and fired one past Savvy Barbosa to pull the Moccasins back within two, 7-5, before McFerren scored her second of the game at 5:47 to make it 7-6 UT. Mojsej once again rolled in front of the goal and fired another past Barbosa to tie things at 7-7 with 4:54 to play in the second frame. Tampa's Peyton Howell stopped the FSC run with 2:01 on the clock to get back in front, 8-7, but the Moccasins saw two quick goals in under 20 seconds to win the quarter 6-5. Cohen found Hannah Hale with 17 seconds to go before Hale found Giana Murphy for the go-ahead with just five seconds to go before halftime, 9-8.
 
After the Spartans tied it at 9-9 with 12:42 to play, Grace Curtin rolled across the face of the goal and fired a behind-the-back goal between Barbosa's five-hole, which served to be the only Moccasin goal in the quarter. Tampa would go on to score three more to capture a 12-10 lead after three full quarters of play.
 
Two consecutive Tampa goals made it a four-goal game before Murphy and Mojsej scored unassisted goals to bring it to a two-goal game, 14-12. Sophi Wrisk would score a woman-up empty net goal to make it 15-12 with 1:44 to play. With time ticking, Hale put another one in the back of the net to make it 15-13, but little time remained. Florida Southern attempted to move the ball downfield with under 30 seconds but came up just short as the final horn sounded with UT in front 15-13.
 
Despite the loss in the championship game, Florida Southern awaits the NCAA selection show set for May 4, where the Moccasins are projected to be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA South Regional. The South Regional will get underway May 8-10, with the first and second rounds, where the quarterfinal game is slated for May 17. The 2025 NCAA DII Women's Lacrosse Championships are set for May 22-24, with the national semifinal on the 22^nd and the national championship game on the 24^th, both held at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Virginia.
 
The next regional rankings are set to be released Wednesday, with the last rankings in order of: Tampa (1), Florida Southern (2), Embry-Riddle (3), Lynn (4), Saint Leo (5), Lander (6), Flagler (7), Rollins (8).
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