LAKELAND, Fla. - The 16th-ranked Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team fell Friday night in overtime to the visiting Saints of Flagler College. The Mocs trailed by two goals late in the fourth quarter but a pair of scores within the final 1:26 sent the game into overtime at 8-8. The Saints were able to win the opening face off of overtime, call timeout, and execute the game-winning play just 1:02 into the extra period, 9-8.
The loss drops the Moccasins' record to 0-4 on the season while the Saints improved to 3-1.
Sophomore
Maddux Walton and junior
Nolan Tighe led the FSC offense with two goals each. Walton scored the game-tying goal with just one second left on the clock to send the game into overtime. Senior
Brydon Robichaud added a goal and an assist while freshman
Carter Vaillancourt handed out two assists as all four Mocs finished with two points in the loss. Sophomore
Grant Ansted, junior
Jack Epley and sophomore
Vinnie Muscella all added a goal each while senior
Owen McCusker chipped in an assist.
Senior
Mason McQuiggin and sophomore
Will Rockwell led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers each while freshman
Carson Corona and junior
Jacob Czyz shared the ground ball lead with six each. McQuiggin also added five ground balls to his effort. Czyz went 11-of-19 (.579) at the face off to continue his streak off winning the face off battle this season.
Graduate student
Michael Simone suffered the loss in the cage for the Mocs as he made 15 saves in the contest. Simone played all but just under two minutes of the contest as fellow graduate student
Levi Shapiro played the final minutes of regulation to man-mark a Flagler offensive player.
Trace McDonald led the Saints with five points on a goal and four assists. Ben Nyberg was the lone Flagler offensive player with more than one goal as he scored a hat trick. Wade Lemon took over in goal after the first half and made seven saves to secure the victory.
The Mocs entered the fourth quarter with a 6-5 lead but the Saints scored three-straight goals in the span of 1:54 from 13:26 until the 11:32 mark of the period. The Saints held an 8-6 for the next 10:06 until Epley broke through off an assist from Robichaud to cut the deficit to one with 1:26 left to play. The Mocs won the ensuing face off and called timeout with 53 seconds left. Following the timeout, the Mocs turned the ball over twice followed by two Saints turnovers which setup the final five seconds of action. Corona scooped up a ground ball following a turnover and found Walton. Walton then weaved through the Saints defense and took a dive while firing a shot towards the goal that found the back of the net with just one second left in regulation.
The overtime period opened with Flagler winning the face off and calling timeout. Following the break, Flagler took one shot off target but were able to cover to retain possession. The next Flagler shot found its way past Simone to secure the victory with 2:58 left in overtime.
The win is the first for the Saints over the Mocs in four tries. FSC defeated Flagler in overtime in Saint Augustine last season.
FSC will return to action this Sunday at noon as Concordia University Irvine visits Berend Field.
