FSC Men: Mocs Score Early and Often in Dominant 21-5 Victory over Catawba
SALISBURY, N.C. – The Florida Southern College men’s lacrosse team moved to 2-0 on the year with a dominant victory over the host Catawba College Indians Sunday afternoon, 21-5. The game marked the second-straight 20-plus goals performance for the Moccasins in as many games this season with 10 different Mocs finding the back of the net.
Senior Edward May led the scoring attack with four goals on the day while adding an assist. The Lafayette, N.J. native took nine shots including six on goal. He also picked up a pair of groundballs and caused one turnover. Juniors Jeff Atlas and Andrew Medeiros each tallied three goals in the victory. Atlas handed out a team-best four assists to finish with a team-best seven points on the day. He took eight shots with the only three on goal being his three goals. Medeiros took nine total shots with five on frame while picking up a pair of groundballs.
Four others finished with two goals each while an additional three Mocs earned one goal in the game. Florida Southern out-shot Catawba 70-37, nearly doubling up its opponent.
At the face-off spot the Mocs won 22 of the 30 match-ups with senior Kevin Horwitz winning 16 of his 20 turns in the middle. Junior Lucas Sommers went 5-for-9 while junior Jay Minor was a perfect 1-for-1. Horwitz also led the Mocs with 10 groundballs.
In goal, the Mocs sent three different goalkeepers onto the field. Freshman Michael Simone earned his second win of the season to move to 2-0. He played the opening three quarters and made six saves while allowing just three goals. Sophomore Matt Halperin came on in the fourth and saw 13:10 of action with three saves and two goals allowed. Freshman Chris Della Jacono played the final 1:50 and did not face a shot on goal.
Florida Southern jumped out to an early advantage out-scoring Catawba 6-1 in the opening 15 minutes. The Mocs improved on that mark in the second quarter, netting eight goals and again holding the Indians to just one goal. The one goal streak for the Indians continued into the third quarter where the Mocs out-scored the opponents 4-1. The final quarter was the only one close on paper as the Mocs edged out the Indians 3-2 but claimed a decisive 21-5 victory.
Florida Southern will face its toughest test yet this season next Saturday as the nationally-ranked Spartans of the University of Tampa visit Berend Field for the Mocs’ 2022 home opener at noon. The currently fourth-ranked Spartans have played one game this season, a 15-3 victory on the road at 17th-ranked Lynn. The match-up on Saturday will not count towards the conference record as the Mocs and Spartans meet in non-conference play.
