LAKELAND, Fla. - The 15th-ranked Florida Southern College men's lacrosse team welcomed in its second top-five ranked opponent of the season as the fifth-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs visited Berend Field Saturday. The Mocs fell behind 12-7 with 8:07 left in the game but used a four-goal run including three goals in the span of 1:07 to cut the deficit to just one but it was not enough as the Bulldogs hung on for the 12-11 victory.
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The loss is the second-straight for the Mocs who opened the season against the No. 4 and No. 5 ranked teams in the country while the Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the year.
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Junior
Jacob Czyz once again had an outstanding day at the 'X' winning 19-of-25 face offs (.760) while scoring a goal and picking up a game-high 14 ground balls. Sophomore
Maddux Walton led the offensive effort with his fourth career hat trick and first of the 2025 season. Junior
Jack Epley and senior
Brydon Robichaud each added two points on the day with a goal and an assist each while junior
Nolan Tighe and sophomore
Vinnie Muscella each chipped in two goals.
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Graduate student
Michael Simone did all he could in goal for the Mocs making 15 saves on the day. His counterpart, Quad Williams of Wingate, picked up 11 saves in the victory.
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The first half was a tight battle between the two teams. The Bulldogs led 4-3 after 30 minutes of action. Wingate scored the opening two goals of the contest before the Mocs answered late in the first. The Bulldogs again scored twice to start the second and led 4-1 with 8:56 left in the first half. Walton and Muscella each found the back of the net in the final three minutes of the half to cut the lead to just one. The second half saw the Bulldogs strike first but the Mocs answered just 41 seconds later. Two more goals in the span of 1:18 by Wingate gave the Bulldogs a 7-4 lead five minutes into the second half.
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The Mocs cut the deficit to two with 7:46 left in the third but the Bulldogs once again had the answer just 32 seconds later. Both teams each scored a goal in the final six minutes of the period to give Wingate a 9-6 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of action. After the Mocs and Bulldogs traded goals 40 seconds from each other, Wingate scored two more goals just 14 seconds apart to open up a 12-7 lead with 8:07 left. The final spurt by the Mocs began at the 5:22 mark as Muscella found the back of the net for the second time. Czyz then won the ensuing face off and raced down the field for his second goal of the season just seven seconds later. One minute later, the Mocs scored again to cut the deficit to just two with 4:15 left. FSC battled and eventually found Robichaud for his third goal of the season, cutting the deficit to just one with 1:42 left to play. FSC was able to get five shots off in the final 1:42 but only one found the target but was saved by Wingate's keeper.
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Florida Southern's schedule does not get any easier as FSC travels to second-ranked Tampa on Tuesday, Feb. 11 for a 7:30 p.m. contest. The game does not count as a Sunshine State Conference contest.
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