AUBURNDALE, Fla. - No. 1 (IWLCA Division II Top 25) Flagler College lost its first match of the season to No. 2 Florida Southern College, 14-9, in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II National Championship this afternoon, held at Lake Myrtle Sports Park.
Seeing a drastic increase from last season, Flagler finished with a 20-1 record. Flagler finished with a .952 win percentage, compared to last season's .684. The Mocs advanced the NCAA semifinals with a 19-1 record.
A shootout in the first half set the Saints and Mocs up to go into halftime tied 6-6. Opening up the match was
Jessica Wright who scored four minutes into the match. During the half, Wright scored a hat trick as she contributed to the Saints three goal run in the first period and the first goal of the second period.
Kylie Budke totaled two goals in the half and one assist in the second. Budke's stand out effort came in the waning seconds of the second period. With ten seconds to clear and shoot,
Maddy Hartsock went coast to coast to dish a diving, buzzer beater goal to Budke in the final second of the period. Budke finished as the Saints lead scorer in the tournament as she accumulated seven goals and two assists.
As an offense, Flagler was near perfect on scoring as they scored nine goals on 12 shots. Florida Southern's two goalkeepers finished with just one save between the two.
Ava Lambros,
Carley Tepel,
Taylor Jendrek and
Carly Bagnasco rounded out Flagler's scoring with one goal each.
Ella Pinder and
Izzy Campos notched one assist.
At draw control, the Saints and Mocs were almost balanced as the host out paced Flagler 14-10. Bagnasco,
Macey Watt, Pinder and
Mia Cosentino each finished with two.
Greta McGinnis and Jendrek won one. Flagler's defense caused seven of the Mocs 12 turnovers. Watt finished with a team high two caused and found one ground ball.
Charlotte Harrington, Pinder,
Ava Lambros,
Kayla Wehberg and Budke each caused one. Harrington finished with a team high two ground balls.
