LAKELAND, Fla. – Sean Nolan led the Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team with four goals against Saint Leo University on Thursday evening, as the Lions took a 12-11 overtime victory. The Mocs fall to 1-3 overall, including a 1-2 mark inside the Sunshine State Conference, while the Lions improve to 2-2, and 2-1 SSC. Both teams have been receiving votes in the national polls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Quarter
- Saint Leo got on the board first, with a goal four and a half minutes into the game.
- Florida Southern responded with consecutive goals over a span of 56 seconds, coming from junior midfielder Edward May and Nolan.
- SLU then scored twice in the final minute of the quarter, for a 3-2 lead.
2nd Quarter
- The Mocs rallied for three unanswered goals to open the second. Senior Kevin Horwitz won the opening faceoff, and fed attackman Jeff Atlas, who setup junior attack Cody Bielec for a goal, just 12 seconds in.
- Only 49 seconds later, Atlas scored an unassisted goal to give the Mocs a 4-3 lead.
- Senior middie Carson Wallace followed with his sole goal of the day, and the Mocs held a 5-3 lead.
- Saint Leo responded with a four-goal outburst of their own, to recapture the lead, 7-5.
- Sophomore Thomas Frank would score his first goal of the day with 1:13 to go in the quarter, before Nolan lit the lamp with just seven seconds remaining to send the game into halftime tied at seven.
3rd Quarter
- The Southern defense clamped down in the third quarter, holding the Lions scoreless. Goalie Maxwell Freestone made five spectacular saves in the period, allowing the Mocs to take control of the game.
- Two goals came from Nolan, with a Justin Dunleavy tally sandwiched in between, as Southern led 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
4th Quarter
- Frank scored his second goal of the game with 9:55 remaining, to push the Mocs to an 11-7 lead.
- From there, SLU scored twice in 13 seconds, then cut the lead to just one, at 11-10, with a goal with 6:47 remaining.
- The game-tying goal came in a man-up situation, with just 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
Overtime
- Southern controlled the ball to open the overtime session, and May had a great look at the goal. He ripped a shot past the SLU goalie, only to have the ball hit the post and ricochet out to midfield.
- SLU picked up the loose ball, and had a two-on-one unsettled situation. Justin Williams drew the defender, and setup Guy Bistrow for the game winner, just 65 seconds into the extra period.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Maxwell made 18 saves in the game, including ten in the second half.
- Horwitz continued his dominance at the faceoff X, winning 18 of his 23 chances.
- Balanced scoring allowed seven different Mocs to score goals. Nolan (4) and Frank (2) are the only student-athletes with multiple goals today.
- Horwitz led the team with nine ground balls, followed by Nolan with eight.
UP NEXT
The Mocs will head to Winter Park to face Rollins College on Saturday, April 10, for a 1:00 p.m. start.
