Lakeland alum Kaleb Cook with 4G/1A, Mitchell alum Charlie Fisher 1G/4GBs/1CTO, Stoneman alum Thomas Frank 1G/1GB, Newsome alum Rylan Reese 1GB/2CTOs for FSC. Providence alum Guy Bistrow 4G/2A/3GBs, Montverde alum Michael Flores 2G/8GBs/13 for 27, Lake Mary alum Chase Strait 8 Saves, Cocoa Beach alum Jake Galzerano 3GBs/1CTO/6 for 9 for Saint Leo.

via the school press releases/websites

BOX SCORE

Largest Scoring Output of the Season Lifts Mocs in SSC Tournament

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College men’s lacrosse team hosted Saint Leo University in the opening round of the 2024 Sunshine State Conference Saturday afternoon. The Moccasins exploded for their largest scoring output since April 22, 2023. FSC defeated the Lions 20-15 to advance to the SSC semifinals for the third-straight season.
 
The victory pushes FSC’s record to 10-6 while Saint Leo saw its season come to an end at 9-6.
 
Senior Brendan Glasser led the offensive effort with a career-high eight-point effort including a team-best five goals and three assists. Junior Brydon Robichaud finished just behind Glasser with seven points while scoring two goals and handing out a team-best five assists. Senior Kaleb Cook and sophomore Nolan Tighe each scored four goals in the victory with Cook adding an assist to his total for a five-point effort. Five others scored one goal each.
 
Defensively, senior Rylan Reese led the way with two caused turnovers while five others each had one. At the face off, the Mocs sent three players to the ‘X’ who went a combined 18-of-37 (.486). Sophomore Jacob Czyz took the most attempts going 14-of-29 (.483) with a team-best 11 ground balls. Sophomore Luke Henricksen was 2-of-3 (.667) while freshman Boston Stofa was 2-of-5 (.400).
 
In the cage, senior Michael Simone made 13 saves while allowing 15 goals for his 10^th victory of the season.
 
Saint Leo was led by Matthew Cleary who scored six goals while handing out an assist.
 
The high-scoring affair saw 22 goals scored over the opening 30 minutes of action with the Mocs out-scoring the Lions 7-4 in both the first and second quarters. The Lions cut the deficit to just one at the 12:14 mark of the second quarter at 7-6 but a 7-1 run by the Mocs opened up a 14-7 lead and the Mocs never looked back. The Lions would never get closer than a six-goal deficit until the final tally of the game at the 24 second mark of the fourth to cut the lead to just five at 20-15.
 
The Mocs will now begin preparation for their SSC semifinal match-up with top-seeded and third-ranked Tampa on Wednesday, April 24 at 4 p.m. in Tampa.

*****

Men’s Lacrosse Concludes Season in SSC Quarterfinals

by George Hillen | Manager of Athletic Communications

LAKELAND, Fla. – In the first round of the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, the fifth-seeded Saint Leo men’s lacrosse team lost 20-15 against fourth-seeded Florida Southern on the road on Saturday afternoon.

The Mocs struck early as they built a 2-0 lead before the Lions countered with a pair of goals as sophomore Matthew Cleary and senior Michael Flores found the back of the net to tie the game 2-2. Florida Southern captured a 4-2 advantage with 6:46 to play in the opening quarter. Senior Guy Bistrow cut the Saint Leo deficit to 4-3 with an unassisted score at the 4:04-mark. The Mocs tallied three consecutive goals to take a 7-3 lead. Flores ended the first quarter scoring with his second goal of the game as the Lions trailed 7-4 at the beginning of the second frame.

Bistrow opened the second quarter with a man-up goal followed by Cleary lacing a goal as well with the Mocs only leading by a 7-6 margin, however, Florida Southern went on a four-goal run to grasp an 11-6 advantage with six minutes to play in the first half. Sandwiched in between Green and Gold scores were a trio of goals from the Mocs as they led by a 14-8 margin at halftime.

Florida Southern scored the first three goals of the third frame to extend its lead to 17-8. Cleary and sophomore Aidan Knoetgen scored as they were both assisted by Bistrow. The Mocs added two goals to end the third quarter to lead 19-10. Cleary scored in a man-up situation, however, Florida Southern answered with a goal of its own, 20-11. The Lions executed a four-goal run as sophomore Greg Palmer found the back of the net, assisted by Knoetgen, followed by Cleary scoring in a man-up goal before both Palmer scored in a player-up situation, 20-14. With 24 seconds remaining in the game, Bistrow posted a goal to cut the Lions deficit to 20-15.

Cleary led the Lions with seven total points that featured six goals and one assist while Bistrow finished with four goals and a pair of assists. Palmer recorded two goals and two assists followed by Knoetgen with one goal and a pair of assists while Flores notched two goals. Additionally, Flores went 13-for-27 at the X and grabbed eight groundballs. Sophomore Owen Wills collected four groundballs and caused one turnover while classmate Jimmy McGonigle tallied a trio of groundballs and forced two turnovers. In the net, senior Chase Strait posted eight saves in the complete-game effort.

Saint Leo earned consecutive nine-win seasons and tallied two-straight SSC Tournament berths under 19th-year head coach Brad Jorgensen.