TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 3 Florida Southern women's lacrosse team's season came to a close in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals, 12-10, at No. 1 Tampa at the Naimoli Family Athletic & Intramural Complex Saturday afternoon.
The Moccasins post an 18-3 record on the year after a run to the NCAA Quarterfinals where Florida Southern fell two goals shy of completing an upset. The Mocs outscored the Spartans (19-1) 5-4 in the opening frame, but an 8-2 deficit left Tampa in front 12-7 at the half. Florida Southern would score the games only three second half goals, as the heat proved to be trouble for the high-firing offenses.
Giana Murphy paced the Moccasins with three of the 10 goals, while seven others tallied one goal in the game.
Danielle Mojsej tied Murphy for the team lead with three points, as Mojsej had two assists.
Jenna Vetter,
Abby McFerren, and
Hannah Guerin all finished the quarterfinal game with a goal and an assist, while
Kolby Cohen,
Grace Curtin, and
Hannah Hale all notched a goal.
Hanna Watson registered one assist in the loss.
Maria Reeves finished the game with seven draw controls ahead of
Brayden Cannelli and
Audrey Cannelli, each at two.
Giana Murphy and
Gabriella Connnelly scooped up two draws to allow for the Mocs to win the draw battler, 13-11.
Seven players registered one caused turnover in the game, while two tallied multiple groundballs in
Charlie Laye (4) and
Julia Lucas (2).
Chloe Webber earned the start and made one save in 23:10 before turning things over to
Rebekah Bargeron, who made three stops in 35:40.
Tampa advances to the NCAA DII National Semifinals after being led by Mary Kate Person and Peyton Howell offensively in the first two quarters, as the duo combined for seven of the 12 goals. Person had four goals and one assist while Howell finished with a hattrick. Savvy Barbosa earned the win between the pipes, making three saves in the game. Isabella Avila won seven draw controls to tie for the game high as Lexi Waters paced the Spartans with four caused turnovers and two groundballs.
The Spartans scored the game's first two goals for a 2-0 lead with 11:40 to go in the first quarter.
Giana Murphy scored the Mocs' first goal to cut it to one, but Tampa answered just under two minutes later to stand at 3-1.
Danielle Mojsej found
Jenna Vetter for Florida Southern's second goal before Vetter found
Kolby Cohen for a quick hit to tie things at 3-3 with 6:58 to go. The Spartans would go ahead 4-3 but only for forty seconds before
Hannah Guerin knotted things back up at 4-4.
Abby McFerren found
Giana Murphy cutting to the net for the fifth goal, where the Mocs won the quarter 5-4.
Tampa started the second quarter with a goal to tie it at 5-5 before back-to-back goals by the Mocs opened it to a two-goal advantage. Mojsej found
Hannah Hale before Guerin passed it to
Grace Curtin, who was standing with her back to goal, and whipped it underhanded passed Savvy Barbosa for the 7-5 lead and 9:35 to go.
The Spartans would score seven unanswered goals in the final 8:19 to carry a 12-7 lead into the halftime break.
After the break, the Mocs adjusted and shut down the Spartans' offense, holding Tampa to zero goals in the third and fourth quarters while Florida Southern scored one in the third by
Giana Murphy, and a pair in the fourth from
Abby McFerren and
Danielle Mojsej. The Mocs had a chance late in the fourth quarter, trailing two as Tampa served a non-releasable yellow card, but could not convert as time ran out with Tampa winning, 12-10.
