
Tars Top Florida Southern in Overtime to Win Sunshine State Conference Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
thanks to Travis Larner, Athletic Communications Assistant – Florida Southern College for this press release
LAKELAND – No. 11 Rollins College was crowned the inaugural Sunshine State Conference Tournament champion following a 12-10 overtime win over No. 5 Florida Southern Sunday afternoon at Bryant Stadium.
The Moccasins (19-3) fell to the second-seeded Tars (13-4) after defeating them, 15-8, in FSC’s first-ever conference regular season game on March 27 en route to earning home-field advantage in the tournament with the No. 1 seed.
The loss is the first upset of the series between the two schools. The Mocs are now 2-4 all-time against the Tars, but in the first five games of the series, the team ranked higher in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll had won. The loss is also FSC’s first overtime defeat in four chances in its four-year history.
The Tars were led to victory by the SSC Tournament Most Valuable Player Malorie Olin. The freshman goalkeeper made 13 saves in the title game and finished the tournament with a 6.37 goals against average, a .581 save percentage and 18 saves.
Joining Olin on the All-Tournament Team were teammates Kristina Coppolino, Amy Martin, Eliza Moran, Chelsea Pinneke and Tyler Thomas, Florida Southern’s Megan Asper, Gabby Barowski (Alexandria, Md.), Lorianne Hoover (Annapolis, Md.) and Ashley Seborowski (Annapolis. Md.), and Florida Tech’s Haley Heggblod and Allie Modica.
Not only was the game very intense throughout, it was also very physical, perhaps the roughest game the Mocs have played this season.
“I wasn’t expecting us to get beat like that,” Asper said. “We were really getting thrown around out there. Even the draw was so aggressive and so physical that it just took a lot out of our players. Unfortunately we couldn’t compensate for that.”
As a result, seven of the game’s first eight goals were scored on free position restarts. The Tars finished 5-for-9 on free position shots; the Mocs converted three of their five attempts. The two teams combined for 50 fouls.
Asper, who provided half of FSC’s offensive output with five goals, opened the scoring with a free position goal 50 seconds into the game. Less than a minute later, Rollins senior Alley Rheinhart countered with one of her own.
With two Tars in the penalty box, freshman Shannon Gilfedder (Longwood, Fla.) scored on a free position restart. Rollins responded with a man-down free position goal off of the stick of Martin to spark a three-goal run to end the first half and the Tars held a 4-2 advantage at the break.
Just as she did in the first half, Asper opened the second with a free position tally, this time only 27 seconds into the period. She then scored back-to-back unassisted goals 24 seconds apart at 23:06 and 22:42 to draw the game even at 6-6. She weaved through a myriad of defenders for the first, and then carried the ball along the goal line extended, working her way underneath her defender to deposit the ball past Olin on the doorstep of the crease.
Thomas’ 68th goal of the season put the Tars ahead by two, 10-8, with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half, but senior attacker Caitlin Chase (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) and Asper scored 22 seconds apart to knot the game at 10-all at 7:19. The latter was Asper’s 69th of the season.
“I was just really trying to close that gap and raise the team up,” Asper said. “I just kicked it into second gear to close that gap in the second half and unfortunately we weren’t able to build off of that.”
“I think she does a really good job of scoring when she’s got to get something done to be able to help us win,” said Reber of Asper, who led the Mocs with eight goals, nine points and 10 draw controls in the tournament.
The senior from Parkton, Md., won the ensuing draw control and the Mocs held the ball for the remaining seven-plus minutes, waiting to attempt the final shot of regulation to ensure that, if they scored the go-ahead goal, no time would be left for Rollins to tie the game.
With the clock ticking down, Hoover tried to take the ball up the middle, but the stout Tars defense forced her back outside the 12-meter arc and she was unable to find an open teammate to pass to before the horn sounded.
“We had a play for Lori to drive to the cage and if she got doubled to find a cutter,” Reber said. “She got doubled but no one cut.”
Although the Tars were outgained 15-to-10 on the draw, they won three of four draw controls in overtime. Pinneke grabbed her third of the game to begin the extra session, and this time Rollins held the ball, content on taking the final shot of the first overtime segment. Martin fired one off of the post, but Coppolino was there to grab the loose ball. After being fouled by Moccasin junior Nicole Bellini (Winter Park, Fla.), Coppolino netted the game-winner on the free position restart.
Coppolino won the following draw, and as goalkeeper Taylor Gillis (Bel Air, Md.) headed to the sideline to give the Mocs an extra defender, Rollins junior Emily Eddowes scored on the empty net.
With just over a minute left in overtime, senior Meghan Colucci (Glocester, R.I.) stripped Rollins attacker Angelica Perdomo at midfield, allowing the Mocs to gain possession for the first time in overtime, but Olin saved Gilfedder’s shot to seal the win.
Gilfedder and junior Ashley Robertson (Ellicott City, Md.) each finished with two goals for FSC. Freshman Emily Santoli won a game-high six draw controls, caused two turnovers and added one assist.
Florida Southern’s NCAA Tournament fate now lies in the hands of the selection committee. The Mocs entered the weekend ranked No. 3 in the South Region in the latest regional rankings with Rollins at No. 5.
“Hopefully we will get another chance to play another team this year and we’ll feed off of what happened here, and win the next game,” Asper said.
Travis Larner
Athletic Communications Assistant
Florida Southern College
111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr.
Lakeland, FL 33801
E: tlarner@flsouthern.edu
P: 863-680-4256