Seven Mocs Honored with All-Conference Accolades

LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 16 Florida Southern men's lacrosse program picked up three First Team, two Second Team, an Honorable Mention and two All-Freshman Team honors when the Sunshine State Conference announced its annual awards Thursday morning (April 27). Graduate students Jay Minor and Craig Connor along with freshman Jacob Czyz led the way with First Team All-SSC honors.
 
Sophomore Matt Flammenspeck and senior Nick Shannon earned Second Team honors while senior Sean Nolan was named All-SSC Honorable Mention. Czyz was joined by fellow freshman Nolan Tighe on the All-SCC Freshman Team.
 
Minor, who was a All-SSC Second Team selection in 2022, earns his second all-conference honors of his career at Florida Southern. The midfielder with a lethal left-handed shot finished the regular season ranked third on the team in points thanks to his 27 goals and 25 assists. The Pasadena, Md., native scored the game-winner in the regular season finale versus Palm Beach Atlantic and finished with at least one goal in 15 of the 16 games played. He had seven multiple-goal games while posting eight games with two-or-more assists. His top performance of the season came versus Saint Leo when he scored four goals and dished out three assists for a season-best seven-point performance. Minor was one of three midfielders selected to the First Team.
 
Connor, who was a 2022 USILA All-South Region Honorable Mention as well as Second Team All-SSC, earns his second All-SSC selection of his career. The East Moriches, N.Y., native is a short-stick defensive midfielder and finished the regular season fourth on the team in caused turnovers with 19 but was the top-ranked short-stick player in that category. Despite focusing on defense, the graduate student tallied two goals and an assist this season while scooping up 35 ground balls. He had a pair of three caused turnover games back-to-back midway through the season versus Young Harris and Flagler to mark his season-high in CTOs. He scooped up a season-high six ground balls and was part of a defensive unit which held its opponents to a .726 clear percentage this season which ranks third in all of NCAA Division II.
 
Czyz saw his strong freshman campaign cut short due to injury late in the season but prior to the setback he was leading the way at the face off for the Mocs where he won 55 percent of his attempts. The freshman finished 165-of-300 for the season while scooping up a team-best 97 ground balls. He tallied one goal on the season while came versus Anderson in the third game of the season. He had a career-high 14 ground balls in the victory over Saint Leo where he faced fellow First Team All-SSC face off specialist Michael Flores. His season-high for face off victories came against Young Harris where he collected 19-of-26 attempts. Czyz ranks 30^th in NCAA DII in face off winning percentage and 12^th in ground balls per game. He becomes just the second freshman in program history to earn First Team All-SSC honors joining former Moccasin Austen Lison (2016-19) who achieved the feat as an LSM in 2016.  
 
Flammenspeck, the 2022 SSC co-Freshman of the Year, earns his first All-SSC Second Team selection after being named to the All-Freshman team in 2022. The Calgary, Alberta native led the Mocs during the regular season with 49 goals while dishing out 12 assists for a total of 61 points. His 3.06 goals per game rank third in the conference while his 3.81 points per game put him seventh in the league. The sophomore posted 10 hat tricks during the 2023 regular season including a season-high six goals versus Young Harris. The 10 hat tricks tie a single season record at FSC. He also had a pair of five-goal performances at Embry-Riddle and at Palm Beach Atlantic. He scored the game-winning goals versus Young Harris and Embry-Riddle this season. He finished with at least one point in every game this season including a season-best six points versus Young Harris and Florida Tech and at Palm Beach Atlantic.
 
Shannon, who leads the SSC and ranks second in the entire NCAA DII in caused turnovers, earns his second-straight All-SSC Second Team selection. The Boynton Beach, Fla., native set a new single season program record with 48 caused turnovers in 2023 while scooping up 58 ground balls. He led a defensive unit that ranks first in the country in caused turnovers per game (14.50), third in ground balls per game (41.81), third in opponent clearing percentage (.726) and 21^st in scoring defense (9.88). Individually he ranks second in the country with 3.00 caused turnovers per game. Shannon had at least two caused turnovers in all but two games this season. He posted a season-high six caused turnovers versus Westminster and had three contests with five caused turnovers. He had a pair of contests with a season-best seven ground balls including versus Westminster and Saint Leo. He also assisted on a goal this season at Lynn.
 
Nolan had a record-breaking season in 2023 where he became the program's all-time leading scorer and now has 184 career goals. He finished the regular season with a team-best 68 points after scoring 44 goals and dishing out 24 assists. His 4.25 points per game rank third in the SSC this season while his 1.50 assists per contest rank him seventh and his 2.75 goals per game put him sixth in the SSC. The senior finished with 10 hat tricks during the regular season to push his school record for career hat tricks to 36, surpassing Dane Sorensen's (2012-15) record of 27. The 10 hat tricks also tie a single season record at FSC which Nolan tied in 2019 and 2022 along with Sorensen in 2014. Sophomore Matt Flammenspeck also joined the pair with 10 hat tricks this season for a five-way tie at the top of the record book. Nolan scored one game-winning goal this season and it came on the road at Lynn. He also led the team with six man-up goals this season including a pair against both Dominican and Flagler. His top performance of the season came versus Flagler where he finished with eight points off of six goals and a pair of assists. He also had a seven-point performance versus Young Harris with three goals and four assists. He scored in all but two games this season and finished with a point in all but one contest.  
 
Tighe earns All-Freshman honors after finishing the regular season third on the team in goals with 39 while handing out 10 assists. The North Richland Hills, Texas native scored a trio of game-winning goals including at Montevallo, versus Dominican and versus Saint Leo. He posted six hat tricks including a season-high seven goals on the road at Lynn. He finished with a season-best eight points versus the Fighting Knights after adding an assist to his seven goals. He also posted seven points in the victory over Young Harris including four goals and three assists. The rookie opened his collegiate career with back-to-back hat tricks on the road at UAH and Montevallo. He scored in all but one game this season including in every SSC contest. Tighe scored six man-up goals for the Mocs in 2023 as well.
 
The Mocs will be in action tonight, April 27 at 8 p.m. as they travel to Tampa, Fla. to take on No. 7 Tampa in the semifinals of the 2023 Sunshine State Conference Tournament.
 
Player of the Year: Shahé Katchadurian, Rollins
Freshman of the Year: Greg Palmer, Saint Leo
Coach of the Year: Chris Lewis, Rollins
 

2023 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC First Team
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown
ATT	Jack Johnstone	Rollins	So.	Newnan, Georgia
ATT	Mikey Berkman	Rollins	Gr.	Winter Garden, Florida
ATT	Grant Hansen~	Rollins	So.	Medford, New Jersey
MID	Jay Minor^	Florida Southern	Gr.	Pasadena, Maryland
MID	Dan Fitzpatrick	Tampa	Gr.	Chester, New York
MID	Owen Miller*	Tampa	Sr.	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
LSM	Ben Kopen	Rollins	Jr.	Caldwell, New Jersey
SSDM	Craig Connor^	Florida Southern	Gr.	East Moriches, New York
SSDM	Trejan Cannon	Tampa	Gr.	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
FO	Jacob Czyz	Florida Southern	Fr.	Baldwinsville, New York
FO	Michael Flores	Saint Leo	So.	Apopka, Florida
FO	Hunter Turner^	Tampa	Gr.	Tampa, Florida
DEF	Sam Balch*	Florida Tech	Gr.	Chicago, Illinois
DEF	Justin Isenhour*‡	Rollins	Sr.	Orlando, Florida
DEF	Matthew Beddow*§†	Tampa	Sr.	San Diego, California
GK	Shahé Katchadurian	Rollins	Gr.	Goldens Bridge, New York
2023 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC Second Team
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown
ATT	Matt Flammenspeck~	Florida Southern	So.	Calgary, Alberta
ATT	Collin Stewart	Florida Tech	Jr.	Westminster, Maryland
ATT	Greg Palmer	Saint Leo	Fr.	Holland Landing, Ontario
ATT	Harry Kilkowski^	Tampa	Gr.	Summit, New Jersey
MID	Justin White	Rollins	Jr.	Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland
MID	Logan Myers	Rollins	Fr.	Marietta, Georgia
MID	Adem Tekmen	Saint Leo	Jr.	Columbia, Maryland
LSM	Michael Troese	Lynn	Gr.	Annapolis, Maryland
FO	Thomas Garvin	Rollins	So.	Mason, Ohio
SSDM	Ryan Manning	Embry-Riddle	Gr.	Elkton, Maryland
SSDM	Charlie Metz	Rollins	Fr.	Dallas, Texas
SSDM	Jackson Day	Tampa	Sr.	Tarpon Springs, Florida
DEF	Nick Shannon^	Florida Southern	Sr.	Boynton Beach, Florida
DEF	Leo Dunlap	Saint Leo	Jr.	Omaha, Nebraska
DEF	Gunner Gebelein^†#~	Tampa	Gr.	Baltimore, Maryland
GK	Blake Ulmer*‡	Tampa	Sr.	Naples, Florida
2023 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC Honorable Mention
Pos.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown
ATT	Sean Nolan^	Florida Southern	Sr.	Cross River, New York
MID	Jalen Stanton~‡	Lynn	Sr.	Woodbine, Maryland
LSM	Thomas Gribben	Tampa	Gr.	Charleston, South Carolina
2023 Men's Lacrosse All-SSC Freshman Team
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown
LSM	Hudson Kirk	Embry-Riddle	Fr.	Rockwall, Texas
ATT	Nolan Tighe	Florida Southern	Fr.	North Richland Hills, Texas
FO	Jake Czyz	Florida Southern	Fr.	Baldwinsville, New York
GK	Jax Francisco	Florida Tech	Fr.	Westminster, Maryland
MID	Nicky Vreeland	Florida Tech	Fr.	Wesley Chapel, Florida
MID	Cooper Porter	Palm Beach Atlantic	Fr.	Charleston, South Carolina
MID	Logan Myers	Rollins	Fr.	Marietta, Georgia
SSDM	Charlie Metz	Rollins	Fr.	Dallas, Texas
ATT	Greg Palmer	Saint Leo	Fr.	Holland Landing, Ontario
ATT	Thomas Nelan	Saint Leo	Fr.	Floral Park, New York
MID	John Raucci	Saint Leo	Fr.	Seaford, New York
ATT	Jackson Bashaw	Tampa	Fr.	Jupiter, Florida
MID	Gavin Bomstad	Tampa	Fr.	St. Louis, Missouri

 
* = 2022 First Team
^ = 2022 Second Team
§ = 2022 Player of the Year
† = 2021 First Team
‡ = 2021 Second Team
# = 2019 First Team
~ = Former Freshman of the Year
 
¹ Rollins Players of the Year: Ryan Dunn (2021)
² 4x ALL-SSC: Conor Whipple (Tampa), Jake Mosher-McGraw (Tampa), Andrew Kew (Tampa), Dryden Brous (Lynn)
³ No Sunshine State Conference All-Conferences awards were issued in Spring 2020