Fourth Quarter Surge Pushes #3 Spartans Past #14 Mocs

TAMPA, Fla. - The 14^th-ranked Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team took to the road for the first time in Sunshine State Conference play this season as the Moccasins traveled down I4 to face the third-ranked University of Tampa Spartans. The game was tightly contested for the first three quarters before a 3-0 surge by the Spartans gave the hosts the 12-8 victory.
 
The loss snaps a six-game win streak for the Moccasins who fall to 7-3 on the season including 1-1 in SSC action. The Spartans extended their win streak to seven games and moved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in league action.
 
Junior Brydon Robichaud was the lone Moccasin with more than one goal on the night as he tallied two goals and dished out an assist for a four-point effort. Six others scored goals while sophomore Caiden Wiech scored a goal and was credited for the only other assist.
 
Graduate student Nick Shannon led the defensive effort with a pair of caused turnovers while scooping up two ground balls. Sophomore Jacob Czyz went 14-of-24 (.583) at the face off with six ground balls.
 
Senior Michael Simone once again had a strong performance in goal for the Mocs as he posted his ninth double-digit save performance of the season with 14 stops against the Spartans while allowing 12 goals.
 
Florida Southern was the first to crack the scoreboard as junior Mason McQuiggin scored just the third goal of his career and first of the 2024 season just under two minutes into the contest. The Spartans responded three minutes later to tie the contest but a penalty on the hosts gave FSC the second extra-man opportunity of the contest. The Mocs were able to take advantage of the "power play" as senior Kaleb Cook beat the Tampa keeper for a 2-1 lead.
 
Tampa closed out the first with a 3-0 run to take a 4-2 lead into the first break of the contest. After a scoreless opening three-plus minutes to the second, the Mocs began their biggest run of the night. The visitors scored four-straight to retake a 6-4 lead. All four goals came in the span of just under four and a half minutes. Junior Matt Flammenspeck began the run with a goal off an assist from Robichaud before 50 seconds later junior Blake Terry found the back of the cage for the first time in a Moccasin uniform. Just over a minute later Wiech was able to give the Mocs the lead before Robichaud extended it to two with his first goal of the contest.
 
Between the end of the second and the opening of the third, the Spartans scored five-straight to open up a 9-6 lead which they would never give up. Tampa scored twice in the final six minutes of the first half including one goal with just 32 seconds left in the period. The hosts then opened the second half with three-straight goals over the opening seven-plus minutes. Robichaud ended the stretch with his third goal of the contest with 5:37 left in the third and then senior Brendan Glasser scored with just over two and a half minutes to play in the period to cut the deficit to just one heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
 
The Spartans held the Mocs scoreless over the final period as the hosts added three more goals to their lead to end the night ahead 12-8.
 
The Mocs will now return to Lakeland to face Embry-Riddle on Saturday, March 30 at noon in another Sunshine State Conference contest.
 
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