via FSC press release   BELMONT, NC –  Florida Southern College men’s lacrosse opened its season on the road with a 16-5 defeat at No. 10 Belmont Abbey. The Crusaders (4-0) seemed to have an answer for everything the Moccasins (0-1) threw at them, answering each Florida Southern goal with multiple goals of their own. The Mocs were able to keep the score close throughout the early stages of the first quarter. But a 4-0 run by Belmont Abbey midway through the opening period helped the Crusaders grab a 5-1 lead, and Florida Southern never got closer than three the rest of the way. HOW IT HAPPENED • Belmont Abbey jumped out to a 2-0 lead four and a half minutes in, but Florida Southern’s Chris Cariello found the back of the net for his first goal of the season to slice the deficit to a single goal (2-1) with 8:23 left in the first. However, the Crusaders went on a run and scored three in a row over the next six minutes of play and led 6-2 after the first quarter. • The second quarter proved to be the Moccasins’ undoing, as Belmont Abbey scored five times in the period, while the Moccasins found the back of the net just once. Despite Kevin Dyer‘s goal at thr3:37 mark, the Mocs headed to the locker room down by eight (11-3) at the half. • In the third quarter, Belmont scored the first two goals, but Joe Appio and Kyle Silverstein scored back-to-back goals for the Mocs to make it 13-5 with 1:52 to go in the third period. The Crusaders would tack on another goal just before the end of the quarter to take a 14-5 lead into the final period of action. • Despite playing better defensively in the fourth quarter, the Mocs were unable to find the back of the net and Belmont Abbey scored twice to make the final 16-5. The Crusaders outshot the Moccasins 53-30 and completed all 19 of their clear attempts. INSIDE THE NUMBERS • Florida Southern dropped to 2-3 all-time against Belmont Abbey, including 1-3 when facing the Crusaders on the road. The Mocs fell to 2-8 all-time in regular-season openers, and have dropped their past seven season-opening games. • Kevin Dyer led the Mocs with 11 shots, three on goal, and a goal. Belmont Abbey’s Liam Osborne led the Crusaders with 13 shots, 10 on goal and found the back of the net five times. • Three different Mocs totaled three ground balls. Connor Benyo won 8-of-16 of his faceoff attempts, as the Moccasins won 11-of-23 total faceoffs. The Crusaders finished with a 37-28 advantage in ground balls and forced 16 Florida Southern turnovers. • Mike Greco made 13 saves on 29 shots faced, while Matt Stocks saved both shots faced in more than seven minutes of relief in goal for the Moccasins. • In the five meetings between the two schools, the 11-goal difference is the largest margin of victory in the series. UP NEXT • The Moccasins will wrap up their trip to North Carolina with a 12 p.m. faceoff at Catawba on Sunday. The Mocs will play their first home game of the season at the brand-new new Moccasin Field at Barnett Athletic Complex as they host Emmanuel at 4 p.m.