LAKELAND, Fla. – The roll that the Saint Leo women’s soccer team had been on over the last six games took a three minute break in the Lions’ Sunshine State Conference Championship quarterfinal round game against Florida Southern on Tuesday. In those 180 seconds Moccasin senior Princess Haley scored twice and the Lions’ chance at another tournament championship ended in a 2-1 loss to Florida Southern.
Haley made sure the Mocs advanced to the semifinals by scoring in the 62nd and 65th minutes after Chrissy Darwell had scored for the Lions (9-7-1) in the 35th. On a rainy night at Barnett Field, both teams had 12 shots, and the goalkeepers were kept fairly busy, with Martina Tangen Billing making a season-high eight saves for Florida Southern, and Audrey Bernier-Larose making five for Saint Leo.
The Moccasins had two shots right away, and also had two corner kicks in the first three minutes before momentum shifted to Saint Leo. The Lions forced Tangen Billing into saves in the seventh and ninth minutes, and the junior goalkeeper stopped two more shots in the 24th and 25th minutes. The next one found its mark though when Darwell struck a loose ball from 20 yards out into the lower left corner to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, the Mocs again came out strong with two corner kicks in the 50th minute, and a long-range shot by Kristen Vollmer had promise before it was snared by Bernier-Larose. Haley then hit one across the goal in the 52nd minute that may have been the Mocs’ best chance up to that point. She didn’t miss with her next one though, or the one after that.
Moments after thwarting a Saint Leo attack, the Mocs pushed forward in the 62nd minute with Ashlie Haas getting the ball to Alex Hoover. With room to shoot at the top of the box, Hoover sent Bernier-Larose diving to her right to make the save, but the deflected ball ended up at the feet of Haley who put home a thunderous follow-up shot to tie the game at one. It was the first goal allowed by Saint Leo in five games, and broke a string of more than 472 consecutive scoreless minutes by the Lions goalkeepers.
Less than three minutes later, Haley scored from a similar spot near the left post when she was on the receiving end of a long free kick by Kara Moore. That goal was her 10th of the season and gave the senior forward 100 points for her career. It also gave the Mocs a lead they held the rest of the night, though Saint Leo wasn’t finished shooting.
A yellow card in the 72nd minute created a dangerous situation for the Moccasin defense, but they turned that aside before a shot from Pia Soesemann deep inside the box went wide and high in the 78th minute. Malloree Enoch had a good look at the goal not long after, but her shot was pulled wide of the net as well. Tangen Billing then grabbed a long-range attempt by Cassie Barbaresi in the 84th minute.
Tangen Billing’s final save came with 2:10 remaining, and Haas also blocked a shot at the top of the box just prior to that. It would get even more interesting after that when the Lions won a corner kick in the final 30 seconds and pushed everyone forward, but Morgan Sammons got the ball out of the box to help the Mocs run out the clock.
While the win moved Florida Southern into the conference semifinals and strengthened their case for a regional bid too, it may have ended Saint Leo’s season. The Lions had won five straight coming into Tuesday night after going 4-6-1 in their first 11 games, but it may have come too late to receive an at-large bid to the South Region Tournament.
The final rankings will be released Wednesday afternoon, with selections made next Monday night.
Portions courtesy of Tim Carpenter, Florida Southern College Sports Information
