DeLAND—Stetson's Sarah Collins scored her 10th goal of the season but the Hatters couldn't overcome an offensive onslaught from FGCU as the Eagles collected a 6-1 Atlantic Sun Conference victory in the regular-season finale for both teams, Saturday at the Athletic Training Center.
The Eagles (11-5-2 overall, 6-0-1 A-Sun) also clinched the conference regular-season title and earned hosting rights for the upcoming A-Sun Tournament. The Hatters (9-7-1, 3-3-1) will also advance to the tournament, must wait until tomorrow to learn their opponent and game location.
Despite the loss Stetson enjoyed one of its best offensive efforts of the season. Of the Hatters' 10 shots, seven were on-goal but they didn't penetrate the goal line until the match was already decided.
“I thought our intensity and energy were good, we just bled goals all game long,” said Stetson head coach Manoj Khettry. “Credit to them; they took advantage of the opportunities they had. The sad thing for us was through the possession stats and the chances we created, to score only one goal was a bit disappointing, but that was the best we've done against them attacking-wise. We've got a few days to solve things and get ready for the quarterfinal.”
FGCU took control of the game less than 15 minutes into the contest. Shea Rhoney scored the game's first goal on free kick less than a yard from the top of the box at 10:38, and 56 seconds later Tabby Tindell scored the first of her three goals for a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles again scored back-to-back goals in short order when Nikki Hudson scored at 28:03, and Tindell followed with her second goal at 29:37 to make it a 4-0 contest.
Tindell made it a hat trick in the 54th minute when she headed in a corner kick from Ally Kasun. The assist was Kasun's second of the game and goal made it 5-0.
Darien Davis capped the scoring for the Eagles in the 84th minute when she dribbled around Stetson keeper Kahri Smith and scored on an empty net.
Collins got the Hatters on the board just over a minute later when she took a pass from Cornelia Sochor and rocketed a shot from the left side of the box and into the net.
Smith played all 90 minutes for the Hatters in goal. Despite allowing six goals, the sophomore made a career-high 11 saves as the Eagles unleashed 24 shots.
Stetson will learn its post-season fate upon the completion of conference play tomorrow afternoon.
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