LAKELAND, Fla. – Southeastern's Gaia Iacuzzi and Olivia Thomassey teamed up for three goals over a six-minute period and pushed the Fire past Florida Memorial, 4-1, in The Sun Conference women's soccer quarterfinal.
Getting the night started, Madelyn Davidson made the first shot of the game count as she found the back of the Florida Memorial net for a 1-0 home score at 5:47. Davidson added another shot on goal (19:20), while Makayla Peddycoart tried two balls on net (22:36 and 38:39) and Ariadna Lozano one more (41:05) the rest of the opening half. Sebree recorded her first save against the Lions offense at 35:34.
Florida Memorial tied the match just over 15 minutes into the second stanza at 60:18.
Tied at 1-1, the SEU defense blocked a Florida Memorial shot and reversed the field where Iacuzzi booted what would be the game-winning goal only 33 seconds later at 72:24. The Fire pressure continued as Thomassey connected on a pair of goals of her own on the next two SEU shot attempts with assists from Rebecca Laface and Amelia Hammond. The Fire controlled the action from there to secure the victory.
For the second time in five days, the Fire posted a win against the Lions (8-7-2). The two met last weekend where SEU took away a 1-0 Saturday morning victory. The Fire out-shot FMU 25-10 on the night. Keeper Ella Sebree turned away three of the four shots on goal she faced in net.
The Fire return to action on Monday, when they head to West Palm Beach to battle with Keiser University in The Sun Conference semi-finals. Kick off is at 1:30 p.m..
