Mocs Drop Heartbreaker at #10 Limestone

GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Florida Southern men's lacrosse team went toe-to-toe with the 10^th-ranked Saints of Limestone University falling by the slimmest of margins, 12-11. The game was tight the entire 60 minutes with the Saints scoring the go-ahead goal with 2:05 left in the contest. Junior Jeff Atlas led the Mocs attack with a hat-trick scoring three goals and adding an assist for a team-best four points.
 
Junior Sean Nolan tied Atlas for the team lead in points as he scored two goals and added two assists to earn his four points. Senior Edward May and junior Kevin Dyer each chipped in two goals as well while May added an assist. A pair of freshmen accounted for the other two goals as Brendan Glasser and Brydon Robichaud each scored one.
 
Senior Kevin Horwitz continued his strong play at the X earning 16 of 26 faceoffs while picking up 11 ground balls for his fourth-straight double-digit ground ball performance of the season. Junior goalkeeper Maxwell Freestone picked up seven ground balls to finish second on the team. Freestone picked up 11 saves in goal suffering his first loss of the season.
 
The Mocs fell to 3-2 on the season with the loss while the Saints improved to 3-0 on the year. The Mocs' two losses have come to top-10 ranked opponents.
 
Limestone was led by Owen Consoletti who scored a hat trick for the Saints while also scoring the game-winning goal. Goalkeeper William Baxter earned the win with 10 saves on the day.
 
The Mocs edged Limestone in shots 46-41, but the Saints found the goal more often with 23 shots on goal compared to the Mocs 21. Both teams were nearly even in both turnovers and saves but the Mocs dominated in ground balls 48-35.
 
With the Mocs up 2-1 midway through the opening period the Saints used a 4-0 run that spanned the end of the first and beginning of the second to take a 5-2 lead. The Mocs responded by scoring two of the final three goals of the first half to enter the locker room down 6-4. A 4-0 spurt by the Mocs in the third quarter swung the advantage into the visitors hands, 9-7, with 1:50 left in the third. The Saints tied it at nine early in the fourth quarter as the game came down to an exciting finish.
 
A 2-0 spurt by the Mocs, including goals from Atlas and Robichaud, gave the Mocs an 11-9 lead with 6:44 left but that would be the final tally for FSC. The Saints scored the final three goals of the game including the game-winner with 2:05 remaining.
 
The Mocs will return to Lakeland to prepare for a weekend battle at Flagler, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. in St. Augustine.
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