LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 2 Florida Southern women's lacrosse is ready to host the 2026 Sunshine State Conference Championship, presented by S3 Design, at Berend Field Sunday afternoon (1 pm) against No. 6 Tampa.
Records
No. 2 (1) – Florida Southern – 16-1, 7-0 SSC – SSC Regular Season Champions
No. 6 (4) – Tampa – 12-4, 4-3 SSC
How They Got Here
No. 1 seed Florida Southern defeated No. 4 seed Embry-Riddle 9-5 on Thursday night to advance to Sunday's championship game. No. 3 seed Tampa defeated No. 2 seed Saint Leo 15-9 on the road to advance to Sunday.
#6 Tampa
Mary Kate Person leads the Spartans on offense, with 66 goals so far this season. She sits three points away from a 100-point season. Peyton Howell trails closely behind with 55 goals for the Spartans, tying a season-high six goals in their SSC Semifinal win against Saint Leo.
Defensively, Isabela Avila is a powerhouse with 51 caused turnovers and 37 ground balls. She is also active on the draw, with 105 draw controls on the season. Five other Spartans are in double-figures in caused turnovers, along with five others who have picked up 20+ ground balls.
In goal, Savvy Barbosa has been the main keeper, logging 737 minutes with 12 starts and 15 appearances. The junior has a 43.4% save percentage and a 9.12 goals-against average. Payton Boteler has also been an option for Tampa, appearing in seven games with three starts, including starting agains the Mocs in their regular season matchup. The sophomore holds a 43.2% save percentage.
Series History
Florida Southern leads the all-time series 14-9 over Tampa. The Spartans had their 5-game series win streak against the Moccasins snapped earlier this season, when Florida Southern defeated Tampa 12-10 at home for their first win over the Spartans since their regular season meeting in 2024 (March 29th). This will be the sixth consecutive meeting between Florida Southern and Tampa in the SSC Championship game, with the Mocs last tournament title coming in 2022.
South Region Rankings
Florida Southern and Tampa are two teams represented in the first numerical South Region rankings on April 22. The Moccasins came out as the No. 1 team in the region, while the Spartans are No. 4 in the first ranking.
South Region Rankings – games through April 19
- Florida Southern
- Flagler
- Saint Leo
- Tampa
- Embry-Riddle
- Lynn
- Rollins
- UAH
The winner of Sunday's championship game will receive an Automatic Qualifying (AQ) bid to the NCAA tournament, with the selection show taking place on Sunday, May 3rd at 8:30 PM ET on NCAA.com
