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Second-seeded Tampa and top-seeded Rollins battled to a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of action, and in the end, the Spartans prevailed 4-2 in a penalty kick shootout to win their third straight Florida Blue Sunshine State Conference Championship title.
FINAL
Recap
SEMIFINALS
In Friday's first semifinal of the day, second-seeded Tampa stormed past third-seeded Florida Southern 3-0. Courtney Peffley got things rolling for the Spartans with a goal in the 27th minute. Less than two minutes later, SSC Player of the Year Lauren Moore added to the UT advantage with another goal. Moore would strike again in the 79th minute to seal the win.
In the second semifinal, top-seeded Rollins downed No. 5 Eckerd 2-0. SSC Offensive Player of the Year Brenna McKee put the Tars on the board with a goal in the 26th minute. Ali Schrader added an insurance goal in the 81st minute to secure the victory. After amassing 19 saves in her team's quarterfinal win, Eckerd goalkeeper Morgan Crescent put up another valiant effort with eight saves.
The Tars and Spartans will face off for the tournament title on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Rollins' Cahall-Sandspur Field.
QUARTERFINALS
No. 4 NSU held No. 5 Eckerd to just two shots on goal, but that was enough for the Tritons to snatch the victory. Eckerd's Arie Anahory headed in a shot in the 36th minute, and that was all the Tritons would need to advance to the semifinals.
The performance of the night, however, belonged to EC keeper Morgan Crescent. The netminder was under seige the entire night and made an astounding 19 saves to preserve her team's one-goal lead.
With their win, the Sharks will next face host and No. 1 Rollins at 7 p.m. on Friday in Winter Park.
In the other women's quarterfinal, No. 3 Florida Southern and No. 6 Lynn were tied at 1-1 at the end of 110 minutes of action, and the Moccasins posted a 4-1 penalty kick shootout victory to advance. Kirra Rainbow put the Moccasins on the board less than two minutes into play when she drove in a ball that the Lynn defense failed to safely clear from the box. Lynn's Meghan Dolan knotted the score at 1-1 with a goal in the 78th minute.
Both team's keepers - Kelsey Butler for Lynn and Erin Moseley for FSC - had seven saves in regulation and overtime. Nevertheless, it was Mosely who would rise to the occasion in the PK shootout. Moseley made two saves on the Fighting Knights' PK chances to lift Southern to the semis. LU's Lauren Handley and FSC's Kara Moore each made the first attempts for their respective squads before Moseley went to work. Southern's Danielle Hancock, Brooke Williams, and and Jackie Metz each nailed their kicks to propel the Mocs into the next round.
FSC will next face No. 2 Tampa on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Winter Park.
PREVIEW
The pairings have been set for the 2012 Florida Blue Sunshine State Conference Women’s Soccer Championship. The tournament will begin with quarterfinal games on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The semifinals and finals will be hosted on Friday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 4, at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.
While there are three matches remaining on the regular-season schedule on Saturday, Oct. 27, the seeding order for the tournament has already been settled by matches played earlier in the fall.
Rollins (10-4-1, 6-1 SSC), which has tallied 18 points in SSC play, has secured the No. 1 seed and the right to host the semifinals and finals. The Tars will host Florida Southern on Saturday, but regardless of the outcome, they have secured enough points to claim the top seed.
Tampa (12-3-3, 5-1-2 SSC) will be the No. 2 seed, having accumulated 17 points in conference matches. Rollins and UT will both receive quarterfinal byes as a result of earning the top two seeds.
Florida Southern (6-6-3, 3-2-2 SSC) will travel to Rollins for a conference tilt on Saturday, but the outcome of the contest will have no bearing on the Moccasins’ seed. Southern will be the No. 3 seed, having gathered 11 points in conference action. Heading into Saturday’s final SSC contest, the Mocs are tied with Nova Southeastern (4-7-3, 3-3-2 SSC), which also recorded 11 points. Nevertheless, Florida Southern has secured the No. 3 seed by virtue of downing NSU 2-1 in the teams’ SSC match earlier this fall. Nova Southeastern will take the No. 4 seed.
The No. 3 Moccasins will host No. 6 Lynn in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round. No. 4 Nova Southeastern will host No. 5 Eckerd in the other women’s quarterfinal tilt.
Eckerd (9-6-2 overall) and Lynn (4-8-2 overall) joined Barry (7-6-1 overall) in a three-way tie for the final two seeds in the tournament field. Each team compiled 10 points with a 3-4-1 SSC mark. Looking at the teams’ head-to-head performance among the tied group of three, Eckerd posted wins over both Lynn (1-0) and Barry (2-1) to secure the No. 5 seed. While Lynn fell to the Tritons, the Fighting Knights knocked off Barry (2-1) to tally a 1-1 record among the group of three and take the No. 6 seed. Inasmuch as only the top six seeds qualify for the tournament, Barry was eliminated.
Winners in Tuesday’s quarterfinals will advance to Friday’s semifinals in Winter Park.
2012 FLORIDA BLUE SUNSHINE STATE CONFERENCE WOMEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, October 30
No. 5 Eckerd 1, No. 4 Nova Southeastern 0
No. 3 Florida Southern 1, No. 6 Lynn 1 (2OT) - FSC advances with 4-1 PK victory
Semifinals – Friday, November 2 (Hosted by Rollins) | Host Site
No. 2 Tampa 3, No. 3 Florida Southern 0
No. 1 Rollins 2, No. 5 Eckerd 0
Final – Sunday, November 4 (Hosted by Rollins) | Host Site
No. 1 Rollins 1, No. 2 Tampa 1 (2OT) - UT wins tournament title with 4-2 PK victory
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Kori Butterfield, Tampa (Most Outstanding Player)
Courtney Peffley, Tampa
Lauren Moore, Tampa
Gabby Russo, Tampa
Brenna McKee, Rollins
Courtney Reddig, Rollins
Anita Cox, Rollins
Ali Schrader, Rollins
Morgan Crescent, Eckerd
Erin Moseley, Florida Southern
Kelsey Butler, Lynn