via FSC press release

BOX SCORE

LAKELAND, Fla. – The sixth-ranked Florida Southern College women’s lacrosse team rolled past the 19th-ranked Mount Olive Trojans Sunday with a demanding 21-7 win at Berend Field at the Barnett Athletic Complex.  

Senior Patricia Werker earned the win and moved to 2-1 in goal for the Moccasins (3-1) after playing the first 30 minutes. She tallied two saves in the first two periods for the Mocs. Graduate-student Brittany Iamele came in the cage for the third period and tallied two saves and allowed no goals for 15 minutes of action while junior Sydney O’Neill and freshman Rylie Rittberg shared time in the final quarter of action. O’Neill went for 8:48 with one save while Rittberg played the final 6:12 and tallied three saves against the No. 19 Trojans (2-3). 

Florida Southern scattered 21 goals in the back of the net paced by Madison Tare and Ellie Griffin, both finishing with a hat-trick, three goals apiece. Tare, a junior from Etters, Pa., scored her three goals on four shots on the day. Griffin, a freshman from Gainesville, Fla., found the back of the net on all three shots-on-goal. Sophomore Abby McFerren played a key role as the facilitator with five assists in the game and ended the contest with six points after scoring a goal herself.  

The two teams went back and forth in goal scoring as Mount Olive tallied the first of the game, as Morgan Paige scored at 14:09. Florida Southern tied things up as Tare scored her fifth goal of the year at the 13:44 mark. After Paige put the Trojans back on top, Griffin scored her eighth of the year to knot the game back at two. The Mocs would rattle off six more goals to close the first quarter ahead 8-2. Graduate-student Marlee Moon Gaddy, seniors Hailey Daleo (2) and Brenna Smith, freshman Reese Colwell, and Tare all scored in the six-goal run. Colwell’s goal on the free position shot was her first collegiate career goal.  

Florida Southern outscored Mount Olive 6-2 in the second as the Mocs carried a 14-2 lead to the halftime break. In the six-goal second, junior Sammy Gorrasi scored her first goal of the season.  

The Moccasins blanked the Trojans in the third and scored five unanswered goals as Tare, Smith, junior Madison Kennedy (2), and freshman Maria Reeves all found the back of the UMO net. Reeves’ goal at the 9:29 mark off Abby McFerren’s pass was her first collegiate goal.  

Mount Olive outscored Florida Southern 3-2 in the final quarter. One of the two goals in the final 15 came from freshman Sabrina Diaz, which was credited as her first collegiate goal.  

The No. 6 Florida Southern College women’s lacrosse remains at home and will welcome Wingate (RV) to Berend Field on March 9 with an 11:00 a.m. first draw slated between the Mocs and Bulldogs.