thanks to Travis Larner, Athletic Communications Assistant – Florida Southern College for this press release   LAKELAND – No. 5 Florida Southern earned a 15-8 victory over No. 9 Rollins in the Moccasins’ first-ever Sunshine State Conference contest Friday night at Bryant Stadium. Not only was the win the fourth over a ranked opponent for the Moccasins (12-2, 1-0 SSC) this season, but it put them on top of the five-team league. The Tars, who were picked to finish second behind FSC in the inaugural SSC Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll, fall to 1-1 in the conference and 8-3 overall. “Rollins is a really good team,” said head coach Kara Reber. “Our girls were definitely prepared and ready, and knew it was going to be a tough battle the whole game. I think they came out and brought the intensity that we needed.” “It was good to start out (the conference schedule) with a win and really show our mark in the conference,” said senior midfielder Megan Asper. “I think from here on out, if we play strong, we can end our inaugural year with a conference championship.” In the battle between two of the top-five leading goal scorers in the country, Asper (Parkton, Md.) upstaged Rollins junior attacker Tyler Thomas. Although Thomas came in leading Division II with 46 goals, she only scored once Friday night while Asper tied her season-high with six goals; her nine points were also a season-high. “I was just really focused today on winning,” Asper said. “I think if we had a loss against this team it would really be detrimental to our chances of getting to the NCAA Tournament, so I just came out knowing I had to play a really hard game.” Senior Alley Rhinehart scored the game’s first goal at 26:53 for the Tars, but Asper responded with three of FSC’s first four goals to give the Mocs a lead they would never relinquish. Rollins junior Kristina Coppolino cut the deficit in half with the first of her team-high three goals, followed by two each from senior Lorianne Hoover (Annapolis, Md.) and freshman Emily Santoli (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) during a 4-0 run to give the Mocs an 8-2 advantage. Yellow cards against the Mocs allowed the Tars to work their way back into the game. They netted three of the last five goals of the first half, all a man-up. Rollins junior Emily Eddowes scored at 10:09 and 8:00 to make it 9-5 in favor of the Mocs. Coppolino scored with 25 seconds remaining in the half to make it 11-6 at the half. “I think our yellow cards certainly helped them have eight goals in the game,” Reber said. “We didn’t do a very good job of making sure the yellow cards stopped, and that’s something we need make sure we next time out, not to put ourselves in that situation playing a man-down.” Although senior Caitlin Chase was sent to the penalty box at 22:26 in the second half, Asper deposited a feed from freshman Shannon Gilfedder (Longwood, Fla.) off a free position restart for FSC’s second man-down goal of the game. Eddowes found the back of the net before Chase’s penalty expired, but when the Mt. Laurel, N.J., native returned to the field, she scored two in a row at 15:13 and 11:12 to extend the lead to 14-7. Thomas scored her only goal on a free position shot with both junior Gabby Barowski (Alexandria, Va.) and Hoover in the sin bin at 3:40. Asper added her sixth tally with only 48 seconds left in the half. Barowski caused four turnovers and collected four ground balls to lead the Moccasin defense. Redshirt freshman Ashley Seborowski (Annapolis, Md.) made five saves to improve her record to 10-1. With the Mocs outshooting the Tars 33-to-16, Rollins goalkeeper Malorie Olin was forced to make 14 saves. Chase finished with two goals and three assists for five points, while Hoover collected four with two goals and two assists. Florida Southern will travel to South Carolina for a pair of road games next weekend. On Friday, April 3, the Mocs visit Erskine for a 1 p.m. matchup in Due West, S.C. On Saturday, April 4, they battle No. 11 Limestone in Gaffney, S.C. at11 a.m.   Travis Larner Athletic Communications Assistant Florida Southern College 111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr. Lakeland, FL 33801 E: tlarner@flsouthern.edu P: 863-680-4256