#12 Mocs Unable to Upset #1 Spartans on the Road

TAMPA, Fla. – Meeting for the second time this season, the 12^th-ranked Florida Southern men's lacrosse team tried to avenge an early season loss against top-ranked Tampa Saturday night on the road but the Spartans used a strong defensive effort and timely goals to take away a 17-8 victory. The Moccasins held an early lead but strong second and third quarters by the Spartans gave Tampa the edge.
 
The loss snaps a five-game win streak by the Mocs who move to 9-4 on the season with all four losses coming to current top-10 ranked teams. It also marks the first Sunshine State Conference loss for the Mocs who move to 3-1 in league play. The Spartans improved to 12-0 on the season and 4-0 in SSC play.
 
Junior Jay Minor and freshmen Matt Flammenspeck and Brendan Glasser led the offensive effort as the Spartans held Florida Southern points leaders Jeff Atlas and Sean Nolan to just one point combined. Minor picked up his third hat trick of the season with three goals off of seven shots including five on goal. Flammenspeck also picked up a hat trick, his fourth in the past five games. He scored his trio of goals off of six shots including five on frame. He also grabbed a pair of ground balls. Glasser earned three points with a pair of goals and an assist. He took just two shots in the game, both finding the back of the net.
 
Senior Kevin Horwitz picked up a team-high seven ground balls while winning 14 of his 25 faceoffs. Junior Maxwell Freestone suffered the loss in goal moving to 7-3 on the season, Freestone made 13 saves in the loss.
 
A trio of Spartans all scored three goals and had an assist to share the team lead with four points each. Spartan goalkeeper Blake Ulmer made 12 saves while allowing eight goals.
 
Florida Southern turned the ball over a season-high 28 times while the Spartans had 12 turnovers. Tampa's defense was able to cause 15 if FSC's 28 turnovers while the Mocs were credited with just two caused turnovers.
 
After the Spartans opened the scoring just under two minutes into the contest, the Mocs scored three-straight goals to take an early 3-1 advantage. The Mocs lead would hold until the 3:54 mark of the opening quarter as the Spartans found an equalizer. Another Spartan goal with just under a minute left in the period gave UT a 4-3 lead after 15 minutes of action.
 
Flammenspeck scored the opening goal of the second quarter just over two minutes in to tie the game at 4-4. The Spartans responded with five unanswered goals to open up a 9-4 advantage heading into halftime. The Spartans used another dominant quarter in third to lead 14-6 with 15 minutes left to play. The two teams played a close fourth quarter with the Spartans edging the Mocs 3-2 in the period for a final of 17-8.    
 
The Mocs will not have much time to dwell on the loss as another ranked opponent waits on the schedule as 11^th-ranked Rollins visits Berend Field this Wednesday, April 13 for a 7:30 p.m. contest. Read Full Article