LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team will begin the 2023 season ranked 17
th in the Nike/USA Lacrosse DII Men's Preseason Top 20 after an outstanding 2022 season in which the Moccasins advanced to the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship match, falling to eventual 2022 National Champions Tampa. FSC returns key pieces on offense, defense, in goal and in the midfield and will look to make another postseason run in 2023.
The Mocs are one of four SSC programs named in the top-20 with Tampa coming in as the preseason favorites followed by 15
th-ranked Florida Tech, 17
th-ranked Florida Southern and 19
th-ranked Rollins.
In addition to the three ranked conference opponents, FSC's 2023 schedule features two other programs receiving votes in the preseason pool including sixth-ranked Limestone and Anderson, who sits just outside the top-20 in the others considered category.
FSC returns serious fire-power offensively as senior
Sean Nolan enters his final season with 140 career goals (second in FSC history), 62 career assists (third in FSC history) and 202 career points (third in FSC history). Nolan has the chance to overtake both the career goals and career points record at FSC in 2023 as he needs just 35 goals and 28 points to achieve both marks. On the opposite side of the field, the Mocs return starting goalkeeper
Maxwell Freestone who posted a 10-5 record in 2022 while being named Second Team All-SSC. In between, the Mocs have several veteran returns including senior
Craig Connor in the midfield and the dynamic duo of
Nick Shannon and
Zac Fitzgerald on defense. Another Mocs itching to get back on the field is rising senior
Thomas Frank who started the 2022 season on fire before suffering a season-ending injury. He scored 20 goals and dished out nine assists in just six-plus games of action.
The Mocs will open the 2023 season with a trio of exhibition matches including battles with Jacksonville, Lynchburg and Mercer on the road before opening the regular season Friday, Feb. 3 at UAH.
2023 NIKE/USA LACROSSE DIVISION II MEN'S PRESEASON TOP 20
| Rank |
School |
|
| 1 |
Tampa |
|
| 2 |
Mercy |
|
| 3 |
Wingate |
|
| 4 |
Mercyhurst |
|
| 5 |
Adelphi |
|
| 6 |
Limestone |
|
| 7 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
|
| 8 |
UIndy |
|
| 9 |
Le Moyne |
|
| 10 |
St. Anselm |
|
| 11 |
Pace |
|
| 12 |
Seton Hill |
|
| 13 |
Belmont Abbey |
|
| 14 |
Bentley |
|
| 15 |
Florida Tech |
|
| 16 |
Colorado Mesa |
|
| 17 |
Florida Southern |
|
| 18 |
Newberry |
|
| 19 |
Rollins |
|
| 20 |
Chestnut Hill |
|
Also considered (Alphabetical order): Anderson, Mount Olive, Rockhurst, Wilmington
