LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern men's lacrosse team is coming off one of its best seasons in program history including a run to the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Championship where the Mocs fell to eventual National Champions Tampa. FSC returns a veteran core of returners and will see some new exciting additions which could combine to lift the Moccasins to a historic season in 2023.
Head coach
Marty Ward made the decision to focus "in-house" during the fall portion of the Mocs' schedule as FSC did not scrimmage any outside competition and focused on building a solid foundation on which the program can grow. This decision allowed the Mocs' coaching staff to really focus on building a team culture and leadership within the program to help move the Mocs to the next level. FSC named a quartet of captains for 2023 including three new faces to ascended to the captaincy for the first time in their respective careers.
Maxwell Freestone and
Craig Connor returned for their third-straight season as team captains while
Sean Nolan,
Nick Shannon and
Jack Frazee became first-time captains. Coach Ward has been impressed with the groups leadership so far this season and has enjoyed the new perspectives the three newcomers have given after spending the last few seasons outside the captain role.
The Mocs faced a tough preseason schedule in 2023 as Coach Ward scheduled a pair of top-10 opponents in NCAA Division III team Lynchburg and NCAA Division I contender Jacksonville for the opening weekend scrimmages and then took a trip to NCAA Division I Mercer for the final preseason tilt of 2023. The tough schedule has been a blessing for the program as Ward and his coaching staff have been able to see their team face some adversity. Last season, that adversity was faced early in the regular season which saw FSC move to 4-3 after the seventh game of the season. Following that 13-9 defeat at the hands of Lindenwood, the Mocs won eight of their final 10 games including knocking off defending National Champions Le Moyne. 2023's preseason has allowed the team to "turn a corner" before the regular season even starts. The match-ups allowed Coach Ward and his staff to truly see where the team needed to work and what areas the Mocs excel in.
Following the three scrimmages, the Mocs have been spending time watching film and having team meetings to address any areas in which they would like to improve. Coach Ward has been focusing on having the team embrace the expectations and set a solid foundation for the future Moccasin teams to build off of.
One area the Mocs dominated in last season was at the face-off. Departing senior
Kevin Horwitz was one of the best at the X in the entire nation a season ago, winning over 65 percent of his attempts. The 2023 face-off specialist spot will look a bit different as a pair of freshmen will do most of the heavy lifting. Newcomer
Jacob Czyz out of Baldwinsville, N.Y. will do most of the work at the X while classmate
Luke Henricksen will provide a different look for the Mocs. Czyz is a more traditional face-off specialist while Henricksen is more of a counter specialist. One other name in the mix will be sophomore LSM
Joey Shaughnessy who may see some time at the X throughout the season.
Once the Mocs are able to move the ball into the attack position it will be veterans
Sean Nolan and
Thomas Frank looking to lead the way. Nolan is on the verge of breaking nearly every offensive record at Florida Southern after a spectacular 2022 campaign. Frank began 2022 on a tear, scoring 20 goals in just six games of action. He will be returning from injury but is one of the top attackmen in the conference according to Coach Ward. Freshman
Nolan Tighe will be a new face upfront as he will patrol the left side to begin the season. He is a native of North Richland, Texas and was an All-State selection in high school. Sophomore
Matt Flammenspeck returns to the lineup with one year of experience. Coach Ward mentioned Flammenspeck used the offseason to really work on his game and he will be a much more dynamic offensive threat in 2023. Flammenspeck finished fourth on the team in goals last season with 29.
On the offensive side of the midfield the top six battling for starting spots include graduate students
Jay Minor and
Andrew Medeiros, junior
Brendan Glasser, junior transfer
Kaleb Cook, and sophomores
Brydon Robichaud and
Owen McCusker. Minor finished third on the team in goals last season with 30 while both Glasser (19) and Medeiros (11) finished with double-digit tallies. Robichaud just missed out on double-digit goals with eight while also handing out eight assists. McCusker saw limited action in 2022 but looks to step into a much bigger role in 2023. Cook was a member of the Sunshine State Conference All-Freshman Team in 2021 while competing at Lynn. He scored seven goals and handed out four assists in his first season with the Fighting Knights. He then dished out a pair of assists and caused three turnovers as a sophomore. Three additional names who will look to battle their way into the top-six in the offensive midfield include senior
Clayton Moench, sophomore
Gavin O'Connor, and freshman
Seth VonHiltmayer.
The defensive midfield is a veteran group according to Coach Ward. Two of the team's captains call the defensive midfield home including graduate student
Craig Connor and junior
Jack Frazee. Connor has been a standout for the Mocs for the past few seasons and is coming off an USILA All-South Region selection as well as Second Team All-SSC honors. Frazee is looking to have a breakout season according to Coach Ward. Frazee has been solid all preseason and is one of the most consistent student-athletes on the team. Joining the pair in the deep defensive midfield group include seniors
Lucas Sommers and
Aiden Hickey.
Moving back to the long-stick midfielders it will be senior
Griffin Phillips, sophomore
Joey Shaughnessy and graduate student
Cole Williams leading the way. Williams and Phillips provide veteran leadership in the back while Shaughnessy looks to play a more significant role in 2023.
Another strong area for the Mocs is on defense where a number of talented individuals are trying to earn time on the field. The dynamic pairing of seniors
Zac Fitzgerald and
Nick Shannon caused many problems to opposing defenses in 2022 and the two will be joined by junior
Rylan Reese, graduate student
Philip Chevrette, brothers
Ian Wallace and
Mitchell Wallace and junior
Tom Boyd. The younger of the Wallace brothers, Mitchell, is a left-handed defenseman, which is rare to find at the NCAA Division II level.
In goal, graduate student
Maxwell Freestone returns after appearing in 16 of the Mocs' 18 games last season including posting a 10-5 record in the cage. Freestone is attempting to hold off sophomore
Levi Shapiro and junior
Michael Simone, who are eager to earn the starting nod. Shapiro redshirted last season while Simone saw action in six games while Freestone was recovering from an injury. Simone posted a 2-1 record including wins at Anderson and at Catawba. The Mocs have two additional veteran keepers including seniors
Matt Halperin and
Chris Della Jacono. Coach Ward believes all five of his goalkeepers could be starters for almost every team in the country.
Overall, the Mocs have a veteran squad who experienced a trip to the SSC Championship last season and are eager to surpass that success in 2023.
The 2023 campaign begins with a pair of road contests in Alabama. The Mocs first travel to the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Friday, Feb. 3. The Chargers went 10-7 last season including a perfect 5-0 in Peach Belt Conference play before falling to the University of Montevallo in the PBC Championship. Just two days later on Feb. 5, the Mocs will travel to Montevallo to take on the defending PBC Champions. The Falcons went 11-7 last season including winning the PBC Tournament on UAH's home field.
Following the two-game road trip, the Mocs play six-straight at home. The home opener is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 10 versus Anderson. The Trojans went 9-7 last season but boast one of the top face-off specialists in the country in Cam Weeks. The Mocs defeated Anderson 23-12 last season on the road. FSC will then take off two weeks before returning to action against nationally-ranked Limestone on Saturday, Feb. 25. Limestone as an impressive 17-3 last season including edging out the Mocs 12-11 on its home field. The Saints advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Wingate before falling to eventual National Champions Tampa.
Spring break week, March 4-11, will feature three home contests against Dominican (March 4), Clark (March 8) and Young Harris (March 11). Dominican went 6-7 last season and did not play any teams out of the SSC. Clark is a NCAA Division III team which went 3-11 last season while Young Harris is a team out of the Peach Belt Conference and went 1-14 last season.
FSC closes out is six-game home streak with a meeting against second-year program Flagler. Coach Ward believes Flagler will be much improved from its 3-14 record in 2022.
The Mocs will begin Sunshine State Conference play on the road in 2023 as FSC visits Lynn on Thursday, March 23 to open league action. The Mocs will also battle Embry-Riddle (April 1), Rollins (April 12) and Palm Beach Atlantic (April 22) on the road while Saint Leo (April 5), Tampa (April 8) and Florida Tech (April 15) visit Berend Field. The only other non-conference contest on the schedule takes place Sunday, March 26 as Westminster out of Utah visits the Sunshine State. The Griffins went 10-4 in 2022 including 5-1 in RMAC action.
FSC opens up the 2023 season this Friday on the road at UAH in a 4 p.m. contest.
