#20 Mocs Fall in Home Opener to #3 Tampa

LAKELAND, Fla. – Playing at home for the first time in 2022, the 20^th-ranked Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team fell Saturday afternoon to third-ranked University of Tampa in non-conference action, 16-5. The Mocs controlled possession much of the game and out-shot the Spartans 59-39 including a 36-28 advantage in shots on goal.
 
The loss is the first of the season for the Mocs who fall to 2-1 overall while the Spartans improved to 2-0 on the year with a pair of top-20 victories.
 
The Moccasins peppered the Spartan goal with shots all game long with Blake Ulmer being near-perfect in goal with 29 saves for the Spartans while allowing just three goals in 52 minutes of action. Ulmer is the reigning Sunshine State Conference Goalkeeper of the Week and continued his strong play Saturday.
 
Junior transfer Jay Minor was the lone Moc with more than one goal as he finished the game with two goals on 10 shots including eight on goal. Junior Sean Nolan and sophomores Thomas Frank and Vinh Dawkins all finished with one goal in the loss.
 
Frank, junior Jeff Atlas, junior Andrew Medeiros and freshman Brydon Robichaud all picked up assists. Nolan led the Mocs with 12 total shots including five on goal while Atlas and Minor each had 10 shots.
 
Senior Kevin Horwitz continued his strong play at the faceoff spot winning 17 of his 24 attempts. He also led the team with 12 groundballs. Nolan, Atlas and junior Cole Williams all finished second on the squad with four groundballs.
 
Sophomore Nick Shannon was active on the defensive end with four caused turnovers and a pair of groundballs.
 
Freshman Michael Simone picked up the start in goal for the Mocs and played just over 45 minutes of action with 12 saves. Junior Maxwell Freestone played the final 14:44 of the game in goal and saw just one shot which found the back of the net.  
 
Colin White and Ronan Sanchez led the Spartans with three goals each while three others finished with two each.
 
Tampa opened up the game outscoring the Mocs 3-0 in the opening 15 minutes of action. The Spartans would take a 9-2 lead into the halftime break after a 6-2 second quarter. The Mocs once again went scoreless in the third as Tampa opened up a 14-2 lead thanks to a 5-0 third quarter. The fourth quarter was the lone period the Mocs won as FSC outscored the Spartans 3-2 to cut the final deficit to 16-5.
 
Florida Southern will be back in action this Thursday, Feb. 17 at 17^th-ranked Belmont Abbey. The game is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. in Belmont, N.C.
  Read Full Article