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BOX SCORE

#6 Mocs Defeat #2 Spartans to Advance to the NCAA National Semifinals

TAMPA, Fla. – Two high power offenses clashed Sunday afternoon with a trip to the NCAA National Semifinals on the line, which saw No. 6 Florida Southern women’s lacrosse defeat No. 2 Tampa 15-9 at the Naimoli Family Athletic Complex.

Florida Southern (18-3) saw Lizzy Lynch put together another strong performance in the NCAA tournament where she matched her First Round two goal-five assists performance with five goals and one assist against the Spartans. With her six points, the graduate student from Boca Raton, Fla. went over the 200-career points mark, sitting at 205.

Giana Murphy was second on the team with four goals ahead of Abby McFerren and Hailey Daleo, at two each, and Jackie Stoller and Sammy Gorrasi, at one apiece. Stoller added two assists while McFerren added one for three game points.

Daleo who tallied two points too joined Lynch in going over 200 career points where she stands at 201 career points with 200 at Florida Southern, and her one point coming her freshman season.

Lynch and Daleo become the sixth and seventh players in program history to tally 200 career points in the Red and White.

Gina Verrone, who was well rested coming into the second-round game, played the full 60 minutes and made two huge key caused turnovers to stop the Spartans where she scooped up four groundballs in the game.

Florida Southern won 13 draw controls to Tampa’s 15, where McFerren paced the Mocs with six ahead of Madison Tare and Maria Reeves‘ two each while Verrone, Murphy, and Stoller each won one draw.

Sydney O’Neill earned her seventh win of the season playing the full 60 minutes in goal while making 10 saves.

In the two programs third meeting of the season, and all on the line, Florida Southern came away victorious against Tampa (18-3) after stringing together 11 goals in the middle two periods. A slow start to the game saw the Moccasins score the lone goal of the first period at the 9:37 mark on a Jackie Stoller – Giana Murphy connection.

Murphy caught the pass and finished in the back of the net to give the Mocs a 1-0 lead, well into the first period. Both teams traded chances to score in the opening frame, but it was just the lone goal that set the tone.

Florida Southern got fired up and ripped off six goals, the seventh unanswered, to take a 7-0 lead. Abby McFerren and Murphy would each score two in the run while Hailey Daleo and Stoller each netted one.

The Spartans would get a goal in transition at the 1:57 mark as the teams headed into the halftime break with a 7-1 game.

Tampa started the third off with back-to-back goals before Murphy silenced the run with an unassisted goal for an 8-3 FSC lead.

The Spartans quickly answered yet again to make it 8-4, but Daleo and Lizzy Lynch would find the back of the net to push it to 10-4.

After a Tampa goal with three minutes to play, Lynch would end the third with a pair of goals as Florida Southern killed the clock.

Tampa outscored Florida Southern 4-3 in the final period, but the lead by the Mocs was too great. Five minutes ran off the clock in the fourth before Tampa scored but shortly thereafter, Lynch scored her fourth of the day followed by Sammy Gorrasi, 14-6.

With the clock winding down, Tampa scored two goals in succession to cut it to 14-8, but Lynch once again found the back of the net to keep the Mocs ahead by seven. The Spartans would score the last goal of the game with 2:54 remaining as Florida Southern started the celebration, 15-9 FSC.

Florida Southern moved to 10-5 all-time in the NCAA Division II National Tournament and will await its opponent for Friday’s (May 19) National Semifinal matchup at the University of Indianapolis.

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Scoring Summary

1st Period			FSC	TAM
09:37		FLORIDA – Giana Murphy Assisted by Jackie Stoller	1	0
2nd Period			FSC	TAM
12:14		FLORIDA – Abby McFerren	2	0
11:17		FLORIDA – Giana Murphy	3	0
07:59		FLORIDA – Abby McFerren	4	0
06:32		FLORIDA – Hailey Daleo Assisted by Madison Tare	5	0
05:00		FLORIDA – Giana Murphy Assisted by Jackie Stoller	6	0
02:35		FLORIDA – Jackie Stoller Assisted by Lizzy Lynch	7	0
01:57		TAMPA – Allie Peebles	7	1
3rd Period			FSC	TAM
13:36		TAMPA – Sophi Wrisk	7	2
13:20		TAMPA – Sophi Wrisk	7	3
09:56		FLORIDA – Giana Murphy	8	3
09:20		TAMPA – Sophi Wrisk Assisted by Lizzie Pierpont	8	4
08:28		FLORIDA – Hailey Daleo Assisted by Abby McFerren	9	4
05:00		FLORIDA – Lizzy Lynch	10	4
03:12		TAMPA – Alyssa Romano	10	5
02:04		FLORIDA – Lizzy Lynch	11	5
00:32		FLORIDA – Lizzy Lynch	12	5
4th Period			FSC	TAM
10:40		TAMPA – Sarah Hinkle Assisted by Julia Kolderman	12	6
07:55		FLORIDA – Lizzy Lynch Assisted by Emma Dudley	13	6
06:19		FLORIDA – Sammy Gorrasi	14	6
05:53		TAMPA – Julia Kolderman	14	7
05:05		TAMPA – Julia Kolderman	14	8
03:41		FLORIDA – Lizzy Lynch	15	8
02:54		TAMPA – Olivia Mott	15	9

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Spartans Conclude Season With Loss to Florida Southern in NCAA Quarterfinal

TAMPA, Fla. – The No.2 University of Tampa women’s lacrosse team suffer devastating loss to conference foe No.6 Florida Southern in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: No. 6 Florida Southern 15, No. 2 University of Tampa 9

Records: Tampa (18-3), FSC (18-3)

Location: Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex | Tampa, Fla.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

First Quarter: The game started off with the first minutes of the game going slowly as both teams scoped out the other. The Mocs got the scoring started with a goal at 9:37 left in the first. Both teams played tight defense as the Spartans never allowed the Mocs to score again, finishing with a score of 1-0. The Spartans didn’t scored any goals this quarter.

Score: 1-0 (FSC)

Second Quarter: The second quarter opened with the Mocs keeping the same momentum scoring six straight goals before Tampa got a point on the board from Allie Peebles. The Spartans looked to keep this same momentum after halftime as they look to complete another comeback against the Mocs. The Spartan goals headed into halftime were scored as follows:

1:57 – Allie Peebles, unassisted

Score: 7-1 (FSC)

Third Quarter: The third quarter opened with the Spartans getting on the board quickly with an early hattrick from Sophi Wrisk. The Mocs weren’t letting up as they slowly increased their lead, but Tampa wasn’t going down easily. A racing Alyssa Romano scores a goal off a clear attempt with 3:12 left in the quarter. The Spartans goals were scored as follows:

13:36 – Sophi Wrisk, unassisted

13:20 – Sophi Wrisk, unassisted

9:20 – Sophi Wrisk, assisted by Lizzie Pierpont

3:12 – Alyssa Romano, unassisted

Score: 12-5 (FSC)

Fourth Quarter: The Spartans started off with high intensity as they looked to decrease the deficit in the last 15 minutes. Sarah Hinkle started this trend with an assisted goal from Julia Kolderman. Each team exchanged goals from this point on with Kolderman leading the way with two goals. Despite this, it wasn’t enough for the Spartans to complete their comeback. The Spartan goals for the fourth quarter were scored as follows:

10:44 – Sarah Hinkle, assisted by Julia Kolderman

5:53 – Julia Kolderman, unassisted

5:05 – Julia Kolderman, unassisted

2:54 – Olivia Mott, unassisted

Final: 15-9 (FSC)

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Sophi Wrisk led the team with a hattrick
• Alyssa Romano led the team grabbing six groundballs
• Cece Colombo led the team winning seven draw controls, Riley McGettigan was right behind winning four 

BEYOND THE BOX:

• This season marks the best record the Spartans have had since 2019 where they finished, 14-4.
• Tampa won more draw controls than Florida Southern, 15-13

UP NEXT: This game concludes the Spartans 2022-2023 season.