LAKELAND, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women's soccer team was downed in their Sunshine State Conference lidlifter, 3-2 in overtime by Florida Southern on Wednesday night at Barnett Field.
 
It was an eerily similar result, just reversed, from the last meeting between these two teams on the very same pitch. Just as a year ago, the Sharks (3-2-0) forced extra time; however, on this night, the Mocs (1-2-1) came up with the OT win. The end result came despite NSU twice falling behind and twice coming up with an equalizer, the last coming with just over four minutes left in regulation, and both coming from the league's leading scorer, Sierra Lelii (R-Sr., Seminole, Fla.).
 
The Mocs opened up the scoring off a corner kick in the 24th minute, when Anna Griessler found the head of teammate Sheila Ramos for her first goal of the season and an early FSC lead.
 
That score stayed at the half, but the Sharks knotted things up quickly after intermission. Just under eight minutes into the second, Lelii converted another tremendous corner kick from Samantha Gestido (Sr., Hialeah, Fla.), the former's seventh goal and the latter's fifth assist, making it 1-1.
 
The contest stayed tied for exactly 26 minutes, when the home team gained the edge again. At the 12:03 mark, their go-ahead came on another set piece and header, coming off a free kick from Gianna Conte, resulting in a score by Caroline Evers.
 
FSC looked to take that momentum to the final horn, but Lelii's late fastball into a wide-open net again drew the Sharks even in the 86th minute. The score marked the fourth time this season Lelii has scored twice in a game, and it eventually forced overtime.
 
But once again, seemingly as quickly as it was tied up, FSC came up with their final answer. Just 3:43 into the first period of extra time, Evers successfully converted a penalty kick after a foul in the box for the game-winner.
 
The Sharks had a shot-on-goal percentage of 68.8 percent, having 11 on target out of 16 attempts. That latter mark was seven more than their opposition. Julia Nytorp (Sr., Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) led all players with five shots, all but one of them on goal. Lelii posted her two goals on just three shots, and coming in with two attempts each were Sarah Keville (Sr., Vero Beach, Fla.) and Carley Montgomery (So., Sanford, Fla.).
 
NSU will be back at home this weekend for two matches, both 7 p.m. starts, against Tampa on Saturday night and Johnson & Wales on Sunday.