Fort Myers, Fla. ? Freshman defender Alexis Hermosa (Orlando, Fla.) scored the first goal of her career, yet the Hatters (7-9-2, 5-5-0) fell short in the final game of the regular season to Florida Gulf Coast University (10-4-2, 5-2-3) in Fort Myers by a 2-1 score.
Stetson will now head into this week's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament as the #6 seed and take on #3 Belmont in the opening round. Kennesaw State, the #2 seed will host this year's championship in Kennesaw, Georgia beginning November 5th.
It was an evenly played game in the first half with the Eagles holding a 3-2 advantage in shots. The last of the shots found it way into the Stetson goal at 42:59 and gave FGCU the momentum it needed heading into the break.
Stetson was able to control play in the second half in terms of keeping the ball in the FGCU end of the field yet allowed a second score at 70:01 and a 2-0 lead for the Eagles.
The Hatters pressed into the offensive end of the field looking for a late come back and picked up a goal at 85:36 when the A-Sun's leading scorer Tessa Gavilsky (Granite City, Ill.) set up Hermosa.
The play was a set piece down the left flank. Bethany Kiedis (West Palm Beach, Fla.) sent the ball high down the line to Heather Berg (Fort Myers, Fla.) who headed it back into play. Gavilsky knocked the ball down to Hermosa who delivered from six yards out. It was the first goal for Hermosa who is an A-Sun Freshman of the Year candidate due to her stellar defensive play all season.
Although they continued forward, the Hatters were not able to come up with an equalizer in the remaining four minutes.
“It was unfortunate that we were not able to get the momentum we were looking for heading into the tournament,” said Stetson Head Coach Julie Orlowski. “But, we are looking forward to our first round game with Belmont.”
“Heather (Berg) played a great game in her hometown, and Elise Ketcham was our player of the game. She came forward into the attack from the right back to set up several scoring opportunities and had a fantastic game,” added Orlowski.
