The task of paring a list of 500 games down to 20 was at times daunting, and there were some challenges involving soccer that were not present for softball. Some of the games we’ve presented over the last several weeks were easy to choose, and the only question was where they would fall on the list, but there was never any doubt as to which game would occupy the top spot. Much like the number one game on softball’s top-20 countdown, it was an easy selection, as it represents two things that occurred at Barnett Field in the same game that have each happened only once on their home field. With their 1-0 overtime win over Rollins on November 5, 1971, the Moccasins not only clinched a conference championship in the most dramatic way possible, they also secured a bid to what has so far been their only trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Sometimes the most memorable moments aren’t associated with a single game, or even a single play in a game, but the entire atmosphere surrounding those things. The game is still a big part of it, but there’s a lot more to the moment than what happens on the field. That was the case with No. 2 on our countdown, which occurred on September 15, 2006. It was a night that saw the Moccasins defeat Tampa 2-1, while celebrating the 50-year anniversary of men’s soccer at Florida Southern College.

MELBOURNE, FL - Florida Southern women's soccer senior Gaelyn Crowder has been named to the All-SSC Second Team announced by the conference office on Wednesday. Crowder becomes the 26th different player in program history to earn All-SSC honors. Voting for the All-SSC honors and yearly awards was conducted among the league's women's soccer coaches.

As already noted earlier in the countdown, soccer is a sport dominated by defense, so goals are normally at a premium. If every goal scored were comparable to a touchdown, then scoring 10 goals would be more akin to a 70-point explosion in American football. In today’s version of college football, 70 points are more common than it was a decade ago, but 100 points? That hasn’t been seen at the major college level in 50 years. The Moccasins have done the soccer equivalent of that much more recently, however, and it occurred on September 12, 1987, in a 16-0 win over Florida Bible College.

In 2007, under second-year head coach Ben Strawbridge, the Florida Southern women’s soccer team had a breakthrough season that saw them go 12-7-1, doubling their win total from the previous year while reaching double-digit wins for the first time in team history. In a cruel ending, though, the Moccasins were denied their first trip to the NCAA Tournament when, despite being ranked high enough to receive an at-large bid, they were bumped by an automatic qualifier from the Gulf South Conference that was ranked below them. The following year, however, the Moccasins did get that trip to NCAA postseason play, and they all but secured it on October 21, 2008, with a 1-0 win over Tampa.

In 2010, the Florida Southern men’s soccer team was in the running for a bid to the NCAA Tournament all the way until the final week of the season before a loss at Florida Tech in the final game of the season ended those hopes. Nevertheless, the Moccasins had put together a potent offense that returned largely intact in 2011, and finished eighth in the nation that year by averaging more than 2½ goals per game for the second year in a row. Hopes for the postseason were again high, but the mid-season schedule was unkind as losses to Palm Beach Atlantic, Lynn, and Rollins in the span of nine days (three teams that combined for 36 wins) offset a 4-1 start. The Mocs did rebound, however, with another strong run to end the season, culminating with a 4-1 win over 5th-ranked Rollins College, the highest ranked team the Mocs have ever beaten on their home field.

LAKELAND, FL - Florida Southern women's soccer closed out its season with a 4-0 loss at No. 9 Barry on Tuesday night. The Mocs (5-10-1, 3-7-0 SSC) put the pressure on the Bucs (14-0-1, 9-0-1) in the first half but an early first-half goal would be all Barry needed to secure an unbeaten season and claim the SSC regular season title. Christy Grimshaw scored the game-winning goal in the 14th minute.

LAKELAND, FL - Florida Southern women's soccer honored its senior class prior to an overtime loss to Palm Beach Atlantic. The Mocs (5-9-1, 3-6-0 SSC) got on the board in the fifth minute to take a 1-0 lead over the Sailfish (7-7-1, 3-5-1). Midway through the overtime period Palm Beach Atlantic scored the game winner.

The recent and continuing success of the 2018 men’s soccer team has drawn a lot of comparisons to past Moccasin teams, including one in particular. In 1997, the Moccasins were in their fifth season under former Florida Southern goalkeeper Kris Pahl, who by the end of his career would be involved in more games as a player, assistant coach or head coach than anyone else in the history of Florida Southern soccer, 357 to be exact. The Moccasins had been hovering right around the .500 mark for a few seasons prior to 1997, but it was that year in which they took the next step forward and began the greatest five-year run the program has ever had. From 1997-2001, the Mocs won 12 or more games four times, had three seasons allowing less than one goal per match, and became fixtures in the South Region rankings with many of those weeks in the national rankings as well. It was on October 25, 1997, that Florida Southern broke a mark that had stood for 25 years, setting a new school record for wins with a resounding 8-0 victory over Carson-Newman.

LAKELAND, FL - Florida Southern women's soccer kept Eckerd College off the board for 89 minutes en route to its second-straight victory. Freshman Caitlyn Lowery gave the Mocs (5-8-1, 3-5-0 SSC) a crucial insurance goal in the 74th minute as they defeated Eckerd (6-5-1, 3-5-0) 2-1 on Wednesday night in St. Petersburg, FL.