Horwitz Breaks Pair of School Records as Mocs Roll to Victory

BELMONT, N.C. – Senior Kevin Horwitz of the Florida Southern men's lacrosse team broke both the single game and career ground balls record at FSC as the Moccasins cruised past Belmont Abbey Thursday night, 21-13. Both the Mocs and the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey received votes in the most recent USILA Top-20 Poll but it was FSC who had the upper hand the entire game.
 
Horwitz entered Thursday's contest just 10 ground balls away from tying the career record of 319 held by Austen Lison (2016-19). He not only tied the mark but surpassed it by eight as he scooped up an FSC single-game record 18 ground balls surpassing himself and Dan Krispinsky (2011-14) who had tied for the previous single game high of 15.  Horwitz was 22 of 31 at the X as he continued his dominance in the middle. His faceoff percentage is now at .767 for the season as he has won 79 of his 103 attempts. Horwitz also chipped in a pair of assists to his effort Thursday night.
 
The victory improves Florida Southern's record to 3-1 on the season while Belmont Abbey fell to 0-3.  
 
Junior Jeff Atlas had the offense rolling as he handed out seven assists while scoring a pair of goals for a game-high nine points. Sophomore Thomas Frank, who entered the contest with seven goals on the season, nearly doubled his season total with a career-high six goals along with one assist for seven total points.
 
Junior Sean Nolan was right on the heels of Frank as he poured in a five goals while also handing out a pair of assists for a seven point game as well. Nolan also finished second on the squad with five ground balls Classmate Jay Minor chipped in a season-high four goals. Three other Mocs found the back of the net including senior Edward May who had two while two others each had one.  
 
Junior Maxwell Freestone made his first start of the season in goal after seeing late game action versus nationally-ranked Tampa. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native made nine saves in just under 56 minutes of action to earn his first win of the season. Freshman Michael Simone played the final four-plus minutes without recording a save.
 
Belmont Abbey was led by Matthew Wyatt who scored a team-high four goals in the loss while Noah Haas added three.
 
Just four games into the season the Mocs have already tied the mark for most games in a single season with 20-plus goals at three after scoring 23 at Anderson, 21 at Catawba and another 21 in tonight's game with Belmont Abbey.
 
Frank opened the scoring in the game just over three minutes into the first period as he put home a pass from Atlas. After back-to-back goals from the Crusaders, Frank continued the scoring with a 4-0 run of his own in which he scored four unanswered goals over the span of three minutes and one second to give the Mocs a 5-2 lead. The Crusaders were able to sneak in two late goals in the period including one with just four second left to cut the deficit to one heading into the second 15 minutes period.
 
The Crusaders and Mocs traded the opening seven goals of the second quarter, with BAC scoring four and FSC scoring three, which tied the game at 8-8 with 6:48 left in the half. Five unanswered goals by the Mocs to close out the half, including one man-down tally, gave FSC the lead which the Mocs would never relinquish.
 
The Crusaders cut the deficit to four twice early in the second half but that would be as close as they would get as the Mocs continued to press outscoring the hosts 8-5 in the second half.
 
The high-powered Mocs offense out-shot the Crusaders 62-36 including a 40-22 advantage in shots on goal. FSC had just two failed clears the entire game while forcing the Crusaders into 15 failed clears. The Mocs also dominated in ground balls 43-18 and faceoffs 26-12.  
 
The Mocs will have one day of recovery before heading to Gaffney, S.C. to battle 10^th-ranked Limestone. The Saints are 2-0 this season including a 20-9 season opening victory at Belmont Abbey. The Mocs and Saints will hit the field this Saturday, Feb. 19 at noon.