#16 Mocs Close Out 2023 Regular Season in Dominant Fashion

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The 16^th-ranked Florida Southern men's lacrosse team closed out the 2023 regular season on the road Saturday afternoon at Palm Beach Atlantic. The Moccasins used their signature high-powered offense to pick up their record-tying 12^th win of the season, 21-11. The Mocs became just the third team to score 20-plus goals on the Sailfish this season joining nationally-ranked Adelphi and Saint Leo.
 
Florida Southern won a program record 12 contests last season including the 2022 Sunshine State Conference semifinal victory over Rollins. The win Saturday moved FSC's record to 12-4 on the season and 5-2 in SSC play with the Mocs scheduled to take on No. 2 seed Tampa in the upcoming 2023 Sunshine State Conference Tournament this Thursday for a chance to set a new program record for wins in a season. The loss dropped PBA to 2-12 on the year including 0-7 in league action.
 
Sophomore Matt Flammenspeck led the offensive attack for the Mocs Saturday as he poured in a team-best five goals while dishing out one assist for his 10^th hat trick of the season. Freshman Caiden Wiech exploded for a career-high four goals in the victory while handing out an assist. Senior Sean Nolan added his 10^th hat trick of the season with three goals. Three others added a pair of goals in the victory.
 
Graduate students Jay Minor and Andrew Medeiros tied for the team lead in assists with three each. Minor added a pair of goals to finish tied for second on the team in points with five.  
 
Defensively, seniors Griffin Phillips and Nick Shannon led the way with three caused turnovers each. Phillips added a long pole goal, the ninth of his career. Junior Michael Simone made the start in goal for the Mocs while making six saves in a little over 30 minutes of action. He was credited with the victory moving his seasonal record to 10-2 overall. The 10 wins in a single season ties him for second in the FSC record book. With one more victory, Simone would move into a tie for the most wins in a single season by a Moccasin goalkeeper. Three other goalies saw action for the Mocs with graduate student Maxwell Freestone seeing the most minutes at just under 15 minutes while making a pair of saves.
 
Freshman Luke Henricksen took the majority of the face off attempts once again and finished 14-of-29 (.483) with a team-best seven ground balls. Fellow freshman Zach Cannone took six face offs while winning two.
 
The Mocs jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the first 15 minutes of action with Wiech providing two of the opening five goals for the Mocs. Florida Southern would add to its lead in the second quarter thanks to a 6-0 run to close out the half giving FSC a 12-3 lead at the break. It took just 56 seconds into the second half to push the lead to 10 as freshman Nolan Tighe connected on his second goal of the contest. The Sailfish outscored the Mocs 5-3 in the remaining 14 minutes of the third to cut the deficit to 16-8 heading into the final 15 minutes of action. PBA scored the opening goal of the fourth to cut the lead to seven but a barrage of five-straight goals for the Mocs pushed the advantage up to 12 with 2:23 left to play. The Sailfish would tack on two late goals for the final score of 21-11.
 
The Mocs will now begin preparations for the 2023 Sunshine State Conference Tournament where the third-seeeded Mocs will travel to No. 2-seed Tampa in a rematch of the 2022 SSC Championship game on Thursday, April 27 at a to be determined time.
  Read Full Article