LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern College (7-1-0, 2-0-0 SSC) defeated Flagler (3-1-4, 3-0-1 PBC) by a 4-1 score on Wednesday night (Sep. 23) at Berend Field. Florida Southern built a 3-0 halftime lead and later held the Saints to conceding just one goal in their offensive onslaught the second half.
The Mocs broke through in the 34th minute when
Ollie Stephens scored on a header off an assist from
Darcy Moffat, turning sustained first-half chances into a 1-0 lead, and one that they would not look back on. Earlier,
Ricardo Marques made a save on the Saints' shot in the seventh minute, and FSC created looks through
Hector Oliver,
Jacob Marino and Moffat, including Marino's shot from 30 yards out off the top woodwork and Moffat's attempt was saved in the 25th minute.
The final minute of the half ended with two goals from the Mocs. Moffat's unselfish play led to a tap in goal for
Tim Baierlein in the 44th minute before
Hector Oliver's incredible goal from beyond the 18 just 20 seconds later to close the half with a three-goal lead.
The Moccasins continued to create chances while playing with the lead in the final half, with
Payton Rausch hitting the top of the woodwork in the 50th minute and Oliver forcing Trevor Senzon into a save at 60:10, while Marques stopped Oliver Lindstrom's shot at 53:55 at the other end. The half also grew physical, including multiple fouls on both teams and a yellow card to
Joshua Grosser before the Saints got on the board at 73:20 through Will Cain from Fanele Mbangwa to make it 3-1.
Moffat supplied the dagger for for Florida Southern, scoring from
James Forbes' great downfield ball in the 84th minute to move the home side's advantage to 4-1.FSC then withstood a Flagler push that included a corner and four shots in a ten minute stretch, added Moffat's goal during that period, and closed out the match with a 4-1 final.
Moffat finished with a goal and two assists for a team-high four points, putting both of his shots on frame. Baierlein scored the game-winning goal on his lone shot. Oliver scored and led Florida Southern with three shots, including two on goal. Stephens added a goal on his only shot, putting it on target.
The trio of Moffat, Oliver, and Baierlein now leads the team with five goals each, with Darcy leading in points with his 15. The trio are the only one in Division II to all have five or more goals on the year for their squad.
Up next, Florida Southern visits Nova Southeastern on Saturday (Sep. 26) to get back in SSC play. First kick in Fort Lauderdale is set for 7 PM.
