#17 Florida Southern Dominates at the Face Off to Down #20 Lander, 15-10
GREENWOOD, S.C. – Fresh off moving up to 17th in the most recent USILA Coaches Top-20 Poll, the Florida Southern College men’s lacrosse team used a dominating performance at the face off to move its win streak to four and down the host and 20th-ranked Lander University Bearcats, 15-10. Sophomore Jacob Czyz once again proved he is one of the top face off specialists in the country as he won 25-of-28 attempts to lead the Mocs in the middle as FSC in total won 26-of-29. Freshman Boston Stofa collected the lone face off he attempted.
The victory pushes FSC’s record to 5-2 on the year while the Bearcats fall to 6-2.
Offensively, it was junior Matt Flammenspeck leading the way as he tallied a team-best five goals while firing seven shots on goal. Sophomore Caiden Wiech also finished with five points but four of his came on assists as he dished out a career-best four helpers in the victory and scored the second goal of the game for the Mocs. Senior Brendan Glasser finished just behind with four goals, marking his first four-plus goal performance since March 8, 2023 when he tallied four goals versus Clark at home. Senior Kaleb Cook and junior Brydon Robichaud each finished with three points as Cook handed out three assists and Robichaud added a goal and two assists. Freshman Maddux Walton and sophomore Jack Epley each tallied two goals in the victory.
Defensively, eight different Mocs picked up one caused turnover in the contest while Czyz led with a team-best 15 ground balls. Senior Jack Frazee scooped up four ground balls while five others each had two. Senior Michael Simone earned his fifth win of the season in goal while making eight saves, his first non-double-digit save performance of the season.
The Bearcats were led by Kyle DeCrispino (1G/3A) and Nolan Oakley (2G/2A) who each had four points in the loss while goalie Nicholas Paige made 18 saves while allowing 15 goals in the loss.
After some back-and-forth action to open the game, the Bearcats were the first to break the stalemate with 9:34 left in the first. The Moccasins answered back just over a minute later as FSC took advantage of a Lander turnover. Following the turnover, Flammenspeck finished off the transition in front of the goal to tie the game at 1-1. The Bearcats then scored back-to-back goals over the course of 55 seconds to open up a 3-1 lead. The Mocs quickly responded on the very next face off as Czyz scooped up the ball and quickly fed Wiech for a goal just three seconds following the last Bearcats tally. Lander eventually took a 5-3 lead into the first quarter break as a Epley goal with under a minute left in the period cut the FSC deficit to two.
The second quarter started with a Lander goal in the opening minute but the Mocs would rally to score three-straight in the period. The rally began with 10:30 left in the half as Wiech, from behind the cage, found Walton for a quick finish. A minute and a half later, Glasser collected a pass from behind the cage and then shook his defender for a quick strike past the keeper, cutting the deficit to one. Just over a minute later, Flammenspeck provided the equalizer off an assist from Robichaud to tie the game at 6-6. Each team would add a goal down the stretch as the game entered halftime tied, 7-7.
The third opened like every other quarter in the game and that was with a Lander goal as the Bearcats scored two and half minutes in. A streak of four-straight goals gave the Mocs the lead and they would never relinquish it. Glasser fired a cannon from the outside to tie the contest at eight off an assist from Cook with 8:54 left in the third. Epley then gave the Mocs the lead as Frazee passed the ball across the formation for an open shot on the weakside giving FSC a 9-8 lead. Glasser then tallied a man-up goal, the only one of the contest, at 5:52 left in the third off an assist from Cook. The final score in the run came from the cross of Flammenspeck as he once again teamed up with Robichaud for a goal.
The Bearcats scored a goal with 18 seconds left in the third and then another 1:15 into the fourth to cut the FSC lead to just 11-10 but the Mocs would score four-straight to close the game as Lander was held scoreless for the final 13:44 of the contest.
The Mocs will be back in action Tuesday, March 19 as they return home to face 16th-ranked Colorado Mesa. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
