WINTER PARK, Fla. – Seniors
Jeff Atlas and
Sean Nolan of the No. 14 Florida Southern men's lacrosse team connected with just one second left on the shot clock on the opening possession of overtime to lift the Moccasins over the host No. 10 Rollins Tars in the semifinals of the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Tournament. The win was historic for the Mocs as it gave FSC 12 wins on the year setting a new program record and it also marked the first road SSC semifinal victory in program history advancing the Mocs to their second-ever title game appearance.
Atlas began with the ball behind the cage with just five seconds left on the possession clock. As he made his way towards the back of the net Nolan flashed in front of the goal where Atlas placed a perfect one-timer pass that Nolan swiped past the goalkeeper as he laid out for the game-winner. The Mocs then stormed the field and celebrated in front of the large contingent of Moc fans who had traveled over to Winter Park for the contest.
Nolan not only scored the game-winner but also posted back-to-back goals in the final 11 seconds of the opening half to give the Mocs a two-goal cushion heading into the second half. He first scored off a long range high-to-low shot that beat the Rollins keeper with just 11 seconds left in the half. On the ensuing faceoff it looked like Rollins had won possession but senior
Kevin Horwitz was able to find the ball and quickly turned up field. He found Nolan in pretty much the same spot he was in just 10 seconds prior and Nolan zipped a low bouncy shot past the keeper just prior to the halftime horn.
In all, Nolan finished with a game-high five goals in the victory. Senior
Edward May was the only other Moc with double-digit tallies as he posted a hat trick in the victory including a very physical spin around from the back of the cage where he brushed off a defender and beat the keeper for the score. Four others chipped one goal each including Atlas, junior
Jay Minor, senior
Andrew Medeiros and freshman
Brendan Glasser. Atlas and Horwitz tied for the team-lead in assists with two each while May added one as well.
Horwitz won 15 of his 27 faceoff attempts in the game including the most important one, the opening face of the overtime period. He also scooped up a team-high 10 ground balls in the victory.
Senior
Maxwell Freestone made 10 saves in goal for the Mocs as he improved his record to 10-4 on the year.
The victory improved the Mocs record to 12-5 in 2022 while the Tars fell to 12-3 overall with two of the three losses coming at the hands of FSC.
The win was the third over a top-10 opponent this season, setting a new program record. The Mocs defeated then-No. 1 Le Moyne 12-10 at home before sweeping No. 10 Rollins, winning during the regular season at home 16-10 and on the road tonight 12-11 in overtime.
Rollins looked to be in control of the game early as the Tars took a 3-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes of action. The Mocs had several unforced turnovers throughout the night as they navigated the Rollins defense. The second quarter looked like the 2022 Florida Southern Mocs offense as FSC scored three goals in the opening two minutes of the period to take a 4-3 lead. Minor added another score just three minutes later to increase the lead to two.
Three-straight scores from the Tars swung the momentum back in the home team's favor but a May goal with just under four minutes to play ended the streak and tied the game at 6-6. The score would remain that way for the next 3:47 but with 11 seconds to go Nolan began is small outburst of goals as he scored two in 10 seconds of gameplay to put the Mocs ahead 8-6 heading into the halftime break.
For just the fourth time this season, the Mocs were held without a score in a quarter as Rollins held FSC off the scoreboard in the third. RC did the same thing versus the Mocs in the previous meeting in Lakeland this season and the two previous scoreless quarters came against Tampa in the first meeting in 2022. Despite holding the Mocs scoreless, the Rollins offense could not get anything going either as the Tars scored just once in the period to enter the fourth down 8-7.
The Tars scored the opening three goals of the fourth to take a 10-8 lead with just over nine minutes left in the contest. May tallied his third goal of the night with just over seven minutes to play to cut the deficit to one. Just over a minute later Atlas found Nolan for the first of their two connections on the night which tied the game at 10. With 4:53 remaining, the Tars once again took the lead but it was short-lived as Horwitz won the next faceoff and quickly found Nolan for the tying score just seven seconds after the Tars go-ahead goal.
Each team had two opportunities on offense in the final four minutes of action but neither team could find the game-winner so the game was sent to overtime. The Mocs won the opening faceoff of the extra period and continued to look for offensive opportunities but the Tars defense stood strong until with five seconds left on the shot clock Atlas found Nolan for the winner.
The Mocs now go on to face the top-seeded and No. 1 ranked team in the country Tampa on Sunday, May 1 in Tampa. The game time has yet to be announced but the Florida Southern women's lacrosse team will also be facing Tampa in the women's SSC Championship on Sunday in Tampa.
