Buchholz alum Ellie Griffin 3G for FSC

via the school press releases/websites

BOX SCORE

#7 Mocs Bite #5 Spartans on Good Friday

LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 7 Florida Southern Moccasins defeated the No. 5 Tampa Spartans 11-10 in a Sunshine State Conference showdown at Berend Field Friday afternoon.

With a one goal lead, and less than a minute to play, Tampa (8-3, 2-0 SSC) was looking to clear the ball from its defensive end. But it was Jackie Stoller‘s lethal attack on defense that deflected the pass from Alex Walling and got fouled in the process to hand Florida Southern (9-3, 2-0 SSC) the ball in the offensive zone with 40 seconds to play and a full shot clock. The Moccasins would run out the clock as Stoller kept the ball away from the Spartans for the remaining 40 seconds of the game.  

Ellie Griffin and Jackie Stoller each scored three goals in the game to lead the Mocs past the Spartans where Abby McFerren, Hannah Hale, Camden Frissora, Sammy Gorrasi, and Olivia Manghisi all scored one goal in the game. Stoller paced the team with four points, adding one assist to her tally, while Madison Tare finished with a pair of points on two assists.

McKenzie Gaghan earned her ninth win of the year in goal, making seven huge saves against Tampa. She finished the game as the leader in groundballs with seven. The Moccasins took care of the ball having just 12 turnovers while forcing the Spartans to have 21.

The Spartans were led offensively by Gracie Colombo who had three goals ahead of Sarah Hinkle’s pair. Alex Walling took her second loss of the season after playing the full 60 minutes making 12 stops.

Florida Southern opened the game with a strong 3-1 first quarter but a 4-2 second allowed for a 5-5 halftime score.

The Moccasins opened the game with a 3-0 lead as Stoller sandwiched Gorrasi’s goal in the first 14 minutes of the game. Tampa squeaked in a goal with 13 ticks left in the opening frame.

Ellie Griffin registered the first goal in the second frame before the Spartans rattled off three straight to make it 4-4 with 3:53 to play. Olivia Manghisi found the back of the net less than 40 seconds later to give the Mocs a quick 5-4 advantage that would remain the score up to the final seven seconds of the quarter. Tampa again got a late goal to tie it at five.

Tampa used the momentum into the third quarter scoring two goals to claim a 7-5 lead before Griffin cut it to 7-6 with 9:24 to go. Tampa answered but Florida Southern closed the third with three straight and a 9-8 lead heading to the fourth.

Stoller scored her 47^th goal of the season on a player-up opportunity to give Florida Southern a 10-8 lead before the Spartans’ Sophi Wrisk cut it back to one goal, 10-9. Hannah Hale’s goal at the 10:20 mark pushed the game back to a two-goal difference, but Tampa again struck at 7:22 to bring the game to its final 11-10.

The Moccasins were able to withstand three looks from Tampa in the final seven minutes as two shots missed wide and another high from a free position shot. Florida Southern also forced a clock violation in the final minutes to keep the one-goal lead and a caused turnover from Kolby Cohen. 

No. 7 Florida Southern returns to action on April 3 in Daytona Beach, Fla. When the Moccasins travel to No. 9 Embry-Riddle for a 7 p.m. game.

*****

No. 5 Tampa Falls to No. 7 Florida Southern on Road

LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 5 Tampa falls to No. 7 Florida Southern away from home ending the Spartan’s six-game winning streak.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Florida Southern got off to a hot start scoring the game’s first goal at the 13:54 mark after Jackie Stoller found the back of the net on a free position shot. The Mocs continued their run, scoring the game’s next two goals to give them a 3-0 advantage over the Spartans. Tampa’s all-time career points leader, Sarah Hinkle would net the Spartans first goal with 13 seconds left in the first quarter to trail 3-1 heading into the second. Georgia Glowaki assisted Hinkle’s goal giving her her fifth of the year. 

The second quarter started off relatively quiet on the goal-scoring end as both teams did very well defensively. Florida Southern’s Ellie Griffin scored an unassisted goal at the 10:49 mark to increase the Mocs lead once again to three. However, the game would see a sudden shift in momentum as Tampa would respond and go on a run of its own. Jenna Myhal scored UT’s second goal just over a minute later cutting the Spartans deficit to two. Hinkle tallied her second of the game after Sophi Wrisk assisted her bringing Tampa to within one with 6:37 remaining in the half. Senior, Gracie Colombo tied the game at four after scoring an unassisted goal. This would be the first time in the game that the Spartans and Mocs would be level. The Mocs would respond after three unanswered goals to regain the lead but Glowaki would find herself on the score sheet after nodding up the contest at five heading into the half.

Tampa took the lead for the first time in the game when Mary Kate Person scored a goal that was assisted by Myhal just over a minute into the third quarter. Tampa would continue to increase their lead when Allie Peebles netted her first of the game off of a free position shot. The Spartans went 2-5 on the day off free positions. The Mocs ended Tampa’s goal-scoring run at the 9:24 mark in the third to trail by just one, however, Colombo would net her second of the game to put Tampa back up by two goals. The Spartan’s two-goal lead would be the largest lead for UT on the day. Colombo would later tack on a third goal in the fourth quarter to give her her second straight hat trick. Trailing 8-6 in the third quarter, the Mocs would respond with four straight goals to lead Tampa 10-8 early in the fourth.

Wrisk scored her first and only goal of the game with 11:59 remaining in the fourth but FSC would answer putting them back up by two and eventually winning a nail-biter, 11-10.

Stat of the Game – Gracie Colombo tallied her second straight hat trick and fourth overall this season.

TAMPA POST-GAME NOTES 

• Tampa moves to 1-1 overall in the Sunshine State Conference.
• The Spartans have now lost two straight to the Mocs.
• Isabella Avila and Alex Walling led all Tampa players in groundballs (4). 
• UT won the draw control battle, 14-9.
• Tampa held Florida Southern to 11 goals which is their second-lowest total all season. 
• Coach Kelly Gallagher remains one win away from 100 career wins.
• The Spartans are 2-2 versus the Mocs in the last four matchups.
• Cece Colombo had four draw controls in the loss and is now only 11 away from becoming Tampa’s all-time leader.

UP NEXT – Tampa returns to Naimoli to take on Saint Leo on Wednesday, April 3, at 6:00 PM.