#16 Florida Southern Stuns #1 Le Moyne, 12-10

LAKELAND, Fla. – The 16^th-ranked Florida Southern men's lacrosse team took down the defending National Champions and top-ranked Le Moyne College Dolphins 12-10 in front of a capacity crowd at Berend Field inside the Barnett Athletic Complex on the campus of Florida Southern College. The Dolphins last loss came nearly three years ago in the 2019 NCAA National Championship on May 18, 2019 when they fell 15-14 in overtime to Merrimack College. Their last loss in regulation came all the way back on March 23, 2019 on the road at Merrimack.
 
The Moccasins used a balanced attack with nine different student-athletes finding the back of the net led by junior Jeff Atlas and freshmen Matt Flammenspeck and Brydon Robichaud who each scored two goals in the victory. Atlas finished with a team-best four points off of two goals and a team-high two assists. The Islip, N.Y. native fired off nine shots including four on goal.
 
"I think it came down to belief and trust with our team and our staff coming together over spring break through some adversity," said head coach Marty Ward. "We stuck to our game plan and made some adjustments in mid game. Hats off to our assistant coaches, Coach (Shawn) Ewert and Coach (Matt) Maccario, for getting the guys ready to go on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. The boys took care of business tonight. They played hard and we put together a 60 minute game."
 
The victory moves Florida Southern to 5-3 on the season with the Mocs three losses coming to top-15 ranked opponents. The Dolphins fell to 4-1 on the year.
 
Face off specialist Kevin Horwitz continued his stellar senior campaign as he won 15 of his 25 face off attempts while picking up four ground balls. Sophomore defender Nick Shannon led the defense with five caused turnovers and a team-best six ground balls.
 
Junior Maxwell Freestone stood on his head in goal for the Mocs as he turned away 12 Le Moyne shots including four saves in the final quarter of action while holding the Dolphins scoreless over the final 12:37 of the game.
 
"It feels good," exclaimed Freestone following the victory. "Nothing happens unless we win at the 'X', win on offense, win on defense and win in the cage. It doesn't matter where we win as long as we all win. I mean this victory feels amazing!"
 
The Mocs just edged Le Moyne in shots 42-40 but Le Moyne held the 22-18 advantage in shots on goal.  Florida Southern also won the turnover battle 21-18 while both teams picked up 32 ground balls.
 
Le Moyne was led by Zach Pierce who finished with three goals and three assists in the loss while Carter Collins chipped in three goals and one assist.
 
The Dolphins scored the opening two goals of the contest within the first four minutes of the game. Robichaud scored the Mocs lone opening period goal at the 9:33 mark as he finished an assist from Atlas for his fourth tally of the season. LMC took a 3-1 lead into the second quarter.
 
FSC scored a goal just under a minute into the second quarter to cut the deficit to one as junior Kevin Dyer scored an unassisted goal. A three-goal spurt by the Dolphins pushed the lead up to four with 8:21 left in the opening half. After going scoreless for nearly 12 minutes the Mocs tallied two goals in the final 2:11 of the half as Flammenspeck and sophomore Griffin Phillips each found the back of the net to enter halftime down 6-4.
 
The Mocs continued their late first half momentum into the second half and scored the first two goals of the third quarter to tie the game at six with 12:03 left in the period. Atlas tallied the game-tying goal while freshman Brendan Glasser scored the opening goal of the half. Following a Dolphin goal, which put Le Moyne up 7-6, the Mocs went on a 4-0 run to end the third quarter up 10-7. Senior Edward May got the ball rolling with a score off an Atlas assist with 4:02 left in the period. Robichaud, Flammenspeck and junior Sean Nolan each scored a goal in the final 2:36 of the period to give the Mocs a three-goal cushion heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
The Dolphins proved why they are the top-ranked team in the country and defending National Champions as they scored three-straight goals over the opening 2:30 of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 10-10. That would be the final goals the Dolphins would score as the Moccasin defense and goalkeeping stood strong over the final 12:30. Junior transfer Jay Minor scored the game-winning goal with 3:34 left in the game as he beat his defender and fired a laser past the Le Moyne keeper.
 
After the Mocs defense forced a turnover, FSC had the ball with just over a minute and a half remaining and Atlas raced past his defender to get a one-on-one with the keeper and beat him for the insurance goal, 12-10. The Dolphins were unable to get a shot off in the final minute of action as the Mocs hung on for the victory.
 
The Mocs will return to action this Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m. as they host Lynn in the opening Sunshine State Conference contest of the season.
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