SSC: FSC Men over Embry-Riddle 18-6 – Both Recaps
via the school’s press releases
#13 Florida Southern Rolls to Fourth-Straight Victory, 18-6
LAKELAND, Fla. – The 13th-ranked Florida Southern men’s lacrosse team improved its winning streak to four games with an 18-6 defeat of conference foe Embry-Riddle Saturday morning at Berend Field. Junior Jeff Atlas had a tremendous outing for the Mocs having a hand in over half of the team’s goals. Atlas finished the game with five goals and five assists to join the 30 goals, 30 assists club on the year. He now has 30 goals and a team-best 34 assists.
The victory pushes the Mocs’ record to 8-3 on the year including a perfect 2-0 in Sunshine State Conference play. Embry-Riddle fell to 3-9 on the season and 0-2 in league action.
Atlas becomes the first Moccasin in program history to have 30-plus assists in more than one season. He is now just eight assists away from tying his own school record for assists in a season. Another record breaking performance came at the ‘X’ for the Mocs as senior Kevin Horwitz earned 11 faceoff victories against ERAU to bring his season win total to 202 on the year breaking the FSC single season mark of 199 previously held by Andrew Fisher (2014-15) who achieved the feat in 2015. Horwitz finished 11-26 at the ‘X’ Saturday afternoon while scoring a goal and picking up four ground balls.
Freshman Matt Flammenspeck finished second on the team with three goals in the victory while tying for the team lead in shots with 11. Flammenspeck also picked up a pair of ground balls in the win. Four others scored two goals each while junior Sean Nolan added three assists to his two goal output. The junior also led the team with three caused turnovers while scooping up three ground balls.
The Mocs as a team had 17 caused turnovers, a season-best for the program. FSC won the turnover battle 26-18 and forced six failed clear attempts by the Eagles compared to just three for the Mocs.
Junior Maxwell Freestone once again shined in goal for the Mocs as he stopped 15 shots while allowing just six goals. He posted a season-best .714 save percentage. His record improved to 6-2 on the season with his last loss coming nearly a month ago on March 7 versus Lindenwood.
ERAU goalkeeper Lucas Fraser finished with 21 saves and 18 goals allowed to fall to 3-9 on the season.
Florida Southern jumped all over the Eagles scoring the first six goals of the contest to build a comfortable lead that the Mocs would never relinquish. Junior Jay Minor opened things up just 51 seconds into the game as he scored his 17th goal of the season. Back-to-back goals by Atlas and freshman Brendan Glasser pushed the advantage to 5-0 just 3:45 into the 60 minutes of action. The Mocs would end the first period up 8-1.
The scoring would slow down for the Mocs in the second as Flammenspeck tallied the lone goal for the Mocs in the period as ERAU out-scored FSC 3-1 in the period.
Entering the second half leading 9-4, the Mocs allowed just two goals in the final 30 minutes of action while out-scoring the Eagles 9-2 for the final tally of 18-6. The six goals are tied for the second lowest output by the Eagles this season while the 18 goals allowed is a season-high against ERAU in 2022.
The Mocs will return to action Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. as they hit the road for the first time in conference play to take on the Saint Leo Lions.
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13th-Ranked Mocs Claim 18-6 Win Over Men’s Lacrosse
LAKELAND, Florida – The Embry-Riddle men’s lacrosse team traveled to Florida Southern on Saturday for a Sunshine State Conference matchup with the two teams combining for nearly 100 shots, including 60 on target; it was the No. 13 Mocs (8-3, 2-0 SSC) that came away with an 18-6 in over the Eagles (3-9, 0-2 SSC) despite Lucas Fraser tying his own program record with 21 saves on the day.
The first and fourth quarters were owned by the home team as FSC outscored Embry-Riddle 14-2 to bookend the contest. The Eagles and Mocs played evenly in the second and third quarters (4-4).
Florida Southern’s 55 shots were the most attempted against the Blue and Gold this season, but Fraser was a stalwart in net with his 21 saves, finishing the day with a .538 save percentage.
Christian Hofer led the Eagle offensive attack with two goals and two assists, while Marcus Needham added two scores and an assist, and Coleman Jacobs tallied a goal and two helpers. Joe Anderson also scored once for the Eagles.
The Mocs struck first and raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first six minutes of the contest before Hofer was able to get the Eagles on the board. However, the home team scored twice more in the opening quarter, taking a commanding 8-1 lead after 15 minutes.
The second quarter was the Eagles’ best of the contest, starting with a Jacobs goal, and then two more Eagle scored in the last six minutes of the half, one by Anderson and the other by Needham. But, the Mocs still enjoyed a 9-4 advantage at the break.
Needham scored the Eagles’ lone goal in the third quarter, and Hofer had the Eagles’ only score in the fourth.
The Eagles will look to snap their five-game skid on Wednesday, April 6 when they host Lynn at 4 p.m. in Daytona Beach.
