SSC Men’s Title – #1 Rollins 13-7 over #3 FSC – Both Recaps
via the school press releases/websites
Rollins Claims First Men’s Lacrosse SSC Tournament Title
by Michael Pierce, photo by Mike Watters
The Tars will now advance to the NCAA Tournament and are in line to host a quarterfinal game on May 14
WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 30, 2023) – The third-ranked Rollins men’s lacrosse team continued to add to its trophy case on Sunday, downing Florida Southern 13-7 in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship game in Winter Park. The Tars are now 15-1 on the season and will advance to the NCAA II Tournament in May, while the Mocs fall to 13-5 and will await their postseason fate, with hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the tournament.
Mikey Berkman, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, tallied five points on three goals and two assists in addition to picking up a pair of ground balls. Justin White matched Berkman with an identical three goals and two assists, while Grant Hansen, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, posted three goals and a pair of ground balls. Thomas Garvin, another All-Tournament Team selection, was 12-of-21 in faceoffs and collected five ground balls, while Justin Isenhour, who was also an All-Tournament Team selection, racked up five ground balls, three caused turnovers, and his first goal of the season. Shahé Katchadurian, the Tars’ final All-Tournament Team selection, stopped 12 of the 19 shots he faced while also recording two ground balls and a caused turnover.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Quarter
- Hansen got the Tars on the board first with a goal just under five minutes into the game.
- Logan Myers made it 2-0 at the 6:54 mark, which is where things stood going to the final minute of the quarter.
- In the final minute, Florida Southern put home a pair of goals, while Jack Johnstone netted one for Rollins, giving the home team a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes.
Second Quarter
- Berkman opened the scoring in the second quarter, but FSC answered back just over two minutes later to keep it a one-goal game.
- The Tars then went on a 6-0 run, scoring five more times in the second period, including two goals from White and one from Berkman, Hansen, and Isenhour, as Rollins went into halftime leading 9-3.
Third Quarter
- White completed his hat trick and capped the 6-0 run with the opening goal of the third, before the Mocs rallied to score twice in the final six minutes, cutting the lead to 10-5 after 45 minutes of play.
Fourth Quarter
- FSC scored first in the fourth to make it 10-6, but Berkman and Hansen helped put the game away with goals in the final five minutes, giving the Tars a commanding 12-6 lead with 3:22 to go.
- The Mocs got one back and Ian Dean found the net for Rollins in the final 3:12 as the Tars cruised to a 13-7 win and their first-ever conference tournament title.
UP NEXT:
The Tars will now wait until the NCAA II Men’s Lacrosse Championship bracket is announced on Sunday, May 7, to find out their seeding and opponent information. Rollins is currently ranked No. 1 in the South Region, and if the Tars receive the first or second seed in the South Region, they would receive a first-round bye and would be eligible to host a quarterfinal round game on Sunday, May 14 at 1 p.m. against the winner of one of the two first round games.
Fans can follow the Tars all season long at RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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#16 Mocs Fall in SSC Championship Game to #3 Rollins
WINTER PARK, Fla. – Playing in the Sunshine State Conference Championship game for the second-straight season, the 16th-ranked Florida Southern men’s lacrosse team fell Sunday afternoon 13-7 to the top-seeded and No. 3 Tars of Rollins College in Winter Park. The Tars used an explosive second quarter to build a lead they would never relinquish as Rollins College captured the 2023 SSC Championship, the first non-Tampa champion in the history of the league.
The loss drops Florida Southern’s record to 13-5 overall while Rollins improves to 15-1.
The Moccasins were led by a quartet of players who were named to the SSC All-Tournament team following the event including junior goalkeeper Michael Simone, senior attacker Sean Nolan, senior defenseman Nick Shannon and senior midfielder Lucas Sommers.
Graduate student Andrew Medeiros led the way offensively Sunday as he scored a team-high tying two goals while dishing out two assists to finish with four points. Sophomore Matt Flammenspeck also chipped in two goals to share the lead. Sommers, Nolan and graduate student Jay Minor all added goals as well.
Simone was impressive in goal for the Mocs as he made a game-high 15 saves while facing 28 shots on goal. The loss drops Simone’s record to 11-3 on the season. Shannon was a force defensively in front of Simone as he forced five caused turnover to lead all players in the contest while scooping up four ground balls.
Freshman Jacob Czyz faced the Tars for the first time after missing the regular season meeting. The rookie was 10-of-21 (.476) at the X with a team-best six ground balls.
The Tars and Mocs played a tight first 15 minutes as Rollins held a 3-2 lead after the opening quarter. Rollins led 2-0 going into the final minute of the quarter before a flurry of goals lit up the scoreboard. Minor opened the scoring at the 53-second mark as he found the back of the net off a Brendan Glasser assist. The Tars responded 26 seconds later before Medeiros finished an assist from Nolan with one second left on the clock.
The two teams traded goals over the opening five minutes of the second quarter but a 5-0 run by the Tars to close out the half gave Rollins a 9-3 lead heading into the break. The Tars lead stretched to 10-3 just four minutes into the third quarter before the Mocs stopped the streak with a Flammenspeck goal off an assist from freshman Nolan Tighe. Flammenspeck would find the back of the net again just three minutes later off a feed from Medeiros to cut the deficit to five.
Trailing heading into the fourth, Nolan broke through just over a minute into the fourth but the sticks went cold as neither team scored for the next eight-plus minutes until Rollins scored their first goal of the period at the 4:38 mark. Rollins would quickly add a second just over a minute later before Sommers collected the face off won by Czyz and raced down the field for his first tally of the game. Rollins added one more insurance goal down the stretch for the final score of 13-7.
Scoring Summary
| 1st Period | FSC | ROL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:18 |  | RCMLAX – Grant Hansen | 0 | 1 |
| 06:54 | | RCMLAX – Logan Myers Assisted by Mikey Berkman | 0 | 2 |
| 00:53 |  | FSC – Jay Minor Assisted by Brendan Glasser | 1 | 2 |
| 00:27 | | RCMLAX – Jack Johnstone Assisted by Mikey Berkman | 1 | 3 |
| 00:01 | | FSC – Andrew Medeiros Assisted by Sean Nolan | 2 | 3 |
| 2nd Period | FSC | ROL | ||
| 12:29 | | RCMLAX – Mikey Berkman | 2 | 4 |
| 10:18 | | FSC – Andrew Medeiros Assisted by Nolan Tighe | 3 | 4 |
| 09:03 | | RCMLAX – Mikey Berkman Assisted by Justin White | 3 | 5 |
| 06:37 | | RCMLAX – Justin White Assisted by William Metz | 3 | 6 |
| 04:07 | | RCMLAX – Grant Hansen Assisted by Jack Johnstone | 3 | 7 |
| 03:53 | | RCMLAX – Justin Isenhour | 3 | 8 |
| 00:06 | | RCMLAX – Justin White | 3 | 9 |
| 3rd Period | FSC | ROL | ||
| 11:32 | | RCMLAX – Justin White Assisted by William Metz | 3 | 10 |
| 05:47 | | FSC – Matt Flammenspeck Assisted by Nolan Tighe | 4 | 10 |
| 02:32 | | FSC – Matt Flammenspeck Assisted by Andrew Medeiros | 5 | 10 |
| 4th Period | FSC | ROL | ||
| 13:46 | | FSC – Sean Nolan Assisted by Andrew Medeiros | 6 | 10 |
| 04:38 | | RCMLAX – Mikey Berkman | 6 | 11 |
| 03:22 | | RCMLAX – Grant Hansen Assisted by Justin White | 6 | 12 |
| 03:12 | | FSC – Lucas Sommers | 7 | 12 |
| 02:30 | | RCMLAX – Ian Dean Assisted by Jack Johnstone | 7 | 13 |
