Florida Tech’s (7-9, 1-4 SSC) season ended in the Sunshine State Conference semifinals on Friday night against No. 1 seed Florida Southern (19-2, 5-0 SSC) at Bryant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Image for SpaceCoastDaily)
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA –, 1-4 SSC) season ended in the Sunshine State Conference semifinals on Friday night against No. 1 seed Florida Southern (19-2, 5-0 SSC) at Bryant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida.
The Panthers were down just three at halftime, but the Mocs piled it on in the second half en route to a 19-9 victory.
Freshman Sara Grenier led Florida Tech with three goals and one assist, while sophomore Allie Modica finished with a hat trick.
Freshmen Caroline Dunleavy and Heather Molander each recorded one goal and one assist.
Sara Grenier
Sara Grenier answered with her first of the game, but Lorianne Hoover struck thirty seconds later for the Mocs to push them ahead 2-1. Modica tied the game at two goals apiece with 21:57 remaining in the half.
Florida Southern responded with six of the next seven scores to jump ahead 8-3. Modica tallied the Panthers’ final two goals of the half to head into halftime down 8-5.
The Mocs scored three consecutive goals to start the second half. Dunleavy found sophomore Heather Roache for her only goal of the game to decrease their deficit to 11-6.
Hoover hit the back of the net again to push the Mocs’ lead back to six, but Dunleavy answered for the Panthers with an unassisted goal with 21:18 left in the second half.
Florida Southern sealed the victory, scoring seven of the final nine goals of the game. With the win, the Mocs will advance to the SSC Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Corinne Desrosiers
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way we played tonight,” said head coach Corinne Desrosiers.
“Take one look at that box score and you’ll see. Florida Southern finished more but we were in that game the whole time. When you have that many caused turnovers and picked off passes against a top five team, and your squad is full of first year players, you have to be this proud.”
Florida Tech won the ground ball battle (25-23) and kept it close in the shot department (26-30) with the high-powered Florida Southern squad.
“We have had some inconsistent play this month but we really stepped up and took it to Florida Southern tonight,” stated Desrosiers.
“We really got beat today on the fast breaks, but when we made them slow it down and settle, we stopped them. To say we are excited for the future is an understatement.”
