DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 16 Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team defeated Embry-Riddle on Saturday evening by a final score of 21-5, continuing their strong start to the in-conference portion of their schedule.
The Moccasins (9-2, 2-0 SSC) took down the host Eagles (4-6, 0-3 SSC) after taking a decisive lead in the first quarter that they would hold onto for the rest of the contest.
Florida Southern was led offensively by
Matt Flammenspeck who notched five goals.
Jay Minor had a great day as well, posting five points on three goals and a pair of assists.
Junior
Michael Simone started the game in net again and was excellent, making 11 saves to earn his seventh win of the year.
The Moccasins won the face-off battle 17-11 as the reigning SSC Specialist of the Week
Jacob Czyz gathered 15 of the 23 draws that he took.
Florida Southern jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, as Flammenspeck and
Clayton Moench each scored less than a minute apart.
The Eagles quickly erased the early deficit, responding with a pair of goals themselves to tie the game at two just over five minutes into the opening frame.
Midfielders
Brydon Robichaud and
Brendan Glasser scored in the final three minutes of the quarter to give the Mocs a 4-2 lead, and one they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the contest.
Jay Minor became the fifth unique Moccasin to score, as he opened the second quarter with a goal following a crafty dodge down the right wing. Flammenspeck scored his second of the game after the ensuing face-off win, taking a feed from Robichaud and finishing on the back post to put the Moccasins up 6-2.
Robichaud continued to light up the stat sheet as he scored another goal of his own just minutes later to give the Moccasins a 7-2 advantage.
The Eagles were able to respond with a pair of goals, but they wound up being inconsequential as the Moccasins again had the answer to maintain a healthy lead in the first half.
With the team ahead 7-4, Florida Southern's
Andrew Medeiros scored on a diving effort to add to add to the lead before
Sean Nolan tallied to make it 9-4.
Medeiros nabbed his 16
th goal of the season as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half, taking a feed from Glasser and hitting the back of the net to make it 10-4 headed into the break.
The Moccasins had the opportunity for the last shot after Simone made a late save in the defensive end, allowing Head Coach
Marty Ward to call a time-out with just 10 seconds left once the team transitioned.
The Mocs brought their momentum into the third quarter as
Nolan Tighe found the back of the net before Flammenspeck buried two more goals to build a 13-4 lead.
Lucas Sommers put the Mocs ahead by double-digits with his tally roughly midway through the frame, with Florida Southern ahead 14-4.
Embry-Riddle was finally able to end the seven-goal scoring run with a tally of their own, but it was the Moccasins who found the last strike of the quarter, as they typically do, with Flammenspeck scoring his fifth of the game.
With Florida Southern boasting a ten-goal lead headed into the fourth quarter, the team cruised to victory over the final frame.
Minor scored twice in the quarter while Tighe, Glasser, and Moench each added on goals to make it a 20-5 game headed into the final five minutes of the game.
Freshman
Jack Epley put the finishing touch on the monstrous win, hitting the back of the net in the final minute to put the Mocs up 21-5, a score that would hold until the final horn.
The Moccasins will now look ahead to Wednesday night, when they return home to take on Saint Leo University at 7 p.m.
