Second Half Struggles Deals #5 Mocs Women a 16-14 Loss to #8 Rangers
LAKELAND, Fla. – After a strong showing by both teams Monday afternoon at Berend Field in the opening half, No. 5 Florida Southern saw its lead slip away to No. 8 Regis (Colo.) in the second half. The Rangers outscored the Moccasins 6-3 in the second half as the game drew final in favor of Regis 16-14.
Florida Southern (4-2) dropped its second home game of the year to another top-10 opponent Regis (2-0) after clinging to a 11-10 halftime lead. The Rangers outscored the Mocs 6-3 over the final two quarters to earn the two-goal win.
Sammy Gorrasi set a new career mark with four goals in the first quarter to help Florida Southern get on top of Regis. Madison Tare tied Jackie Stoller for second on the team in points with three as Tare found the back of the net three times, twice in the opening frame, while Stoller had two goals and one assist.
Kelsey Bennett, Abby McFerren, and Hannh Hale all had multi-point games Monday afternoon with two points each. Bennett scored twice and Hale once, while McFerren dished out two assists including one to Bennett.
Olivia Manghisi, Hailey O’Donoghue, and Brayden Cannelli all finished the game with one point with Manghisi and O’Donoghue each having a goal and Cannelli an assist.
The Rangers’ Shea Murphy paced the team with six points on five goals and one assist while Bailey Truex was close behind with four goals and one assist tying Maggie Schipfer with five points, Schipfer with three goals and two assists.
McKenzie Gaghan registered six saves in the game for the Moccasins but moves to 4-2 after the loss in goal while Brigit Goetsch moves to 2-0 after earning the win for the Rangers, tallying eight saves.
Sammy Gorrasi opened the scoring for the Mocs at the 13:07 mark, but the Ragners used back-to-back goals to claim a 2-1 lead that was shortlived as Gorrasi scored again to tie it just 26-seconds later (2-2). Madison Tare scored at the 6:28 mark to put Florida Southern ahead, a lead the team would carry through the remainder of the frame as both Tare and Gorrasi would each score again for a 6-3 after the first quarter.
Regis cut to within two goals (7-5) after scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes. The two teams traded blows all the way to Kelsey Bennett’s goal with 1:30 to play gave Florida Southern a 11-7 lead. Three unanswered Ranger goals closed the half with the game at just one goal difference, 11-10.
Jackie Stoller extended her streak of goals in a game to 28 consecutive games at Florida Southern with the first goal in the third frame (12-10 FSC). Regis scored six straight goals to capture a 15-12 lead before Stoller scored with seven ticks left to cut it to a two-goal deficit (15-13).
Both teams were scoreless through the six minutes of play in the final frame before Shea Murphy scored to give the Rangers a three-goal cushion (16-13). Hailey O’Donoghue found the back of the net at the 4:12 mark and would go on for the final goal of the game with the Mocs down 16-14.
No. 5 Florida Southern has a tall task ahead as the Moccasins travel to Pleaseantville, N.Y. to take on No. 1 Pace University at 7 p.m. March 7 before taking on No. 17 Mercy in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. on March 9 at 11 a.m. The Moccasins will return home on March 14 to take on Lee (Tenn.) at 7 p.m. at Berend Field.
