MELBOURNE, Fla. – The No. 17 Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team has been selected to finish third in the Sunshine State Conference according to the 2023 SSC Coaches' Preseason Poll.
The Moccasins, who are ranked 17
th in the country heading into the regular season, are coming off of a 2022 season that saw them go 12-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play, making it their best season since 2014.
The University of Tampa was selected to finish first in the conference with 49 points after going 21-0 last year as they won the regular-season conference championship, the tournament championship, and eventually the NCAA Division II National Championship. The Spartans beat the Mocs in the SSC Championship game with Florida Southern finishing as the runners-up.
The Rollins College Tars were selected to finish second in the conference with 41 points, edging out the Mocs by four tallies for the ranking. Last season, Florida Southern won both games that it played against Rollins, including an overtime victory in the first round of the SSC tournament. Preseason All-American
Sean Nolan had five goals, including the memorable overtime winner, in that contest.
Defenseman
Nick Shannon was also named a Preseason All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine
earlier this month.
The Mocs rank ahead of five SSC teams, with Florida Tech coming in at fourth with 32 points. Lynn ranked fifth with 22, just ahead of Saint Leo with 21 points. Embry-Riddle was picked to finish seventh in the conference with 13 points while Palm Beach Atlantic was picked to finish last with nine points.
Florida Southern is coming off of a historic season that saw them lose just six games, three of which came to the eventual national champions. Their only other in-conference loss came to Florida Tech, on the road, in overtime. Otherwise, the Mocs earned numerous marquee victories, including a program-defining win over the former defending national champions in Le Moyne College.
The team retains much of their record-setting lineup from last season, including Goalie
Maxwell Freestone and reigning SSC Freshman of the Year
Matt Flammenspeck, who scored 29 goals at a remarkable .420 shooting percentage.
The Moccasins are set to begin their regular season on Feb. 3 as they travel to take on the University of Alabama-Huntsville at 4 p.m.
| 2023 SSC MEN'S LACROSSE PRESEASON COACHES POLL |
| Rank |
School (FPV) |
Total Points |
| 1 |
Tampa (7) |
49 |
| 2 |
Rollins (1) |
41 |
| 3 |
Florida Southern |
37 |
| 4 |
Florida Tech |
32 |
| 5 |
Lynn |
22 |
| 6 |
Saint Leo |
21 |
| 7 |
Embry-Riddle |
13 |
| 8 |
Palm Beach Atlantic |
9 |
