Photo courtesy of FSCMocs.com MISENHEIMER, N.C. – On a brisk, sunny North Carolina afternoon, Florida Southern kicked off their 2014 season with a 15-9 loss to host Pfeiffer University in non-conference action, despite a duo of Mocs players netting hat tricks. The Moccasins fall to 0-1 after Friday’s loss, while the Falcons improved to 1-0 on the early season. The loss also drops the Mocs’ all-time record against Pfeiffer to 0-5. The first goal of the 2014 lacrosse season was scored by Pfeiffer attackman Tucker Hammock at 10:47 from midfielder Steven Tilmon (Timber Creek, Orlando), followed quickly by Florida Southern’s first goal shortly after. Returning All-DSC Honorable Mention midfielder Chris Murphy (Camilus, N.Y.) recorded the first Moc goal of 2014 at 9:12 of the quarter to even the game at one all. The Falcons scored the next four goals in the quarter to take a 5-1 lead. An extra-man goal from Hammock at 6:53- his second of the afternoon – followed by scores from midfielder Spencer Allen at 3:43, attackman James Shepherd at 2:19 and midfielder Zac Clark at :24 gave the Falcons the lead and the momentum as the first quarter ended. Attackman Robert Hope assisted the goals from Allen and Shepherd. Murphy notched his second goal of the afternoon to break the Pfeiffer scoring run at 13:17 of the second quarter to put the game at 5-2. Pfeiffer’s Shepherd scored his second goal of the day off an assist from midfielder Elliot Gilbert to put the Falcons back up by four with 11:17 to go in the quarter. Senior midfielder Shane Tompkins (Bear, Del.) scored his first goal of the year, assisted by Murphy, at 11:17 before a man-up goal from freshman attackman Grant VanOverbeke (Rosemount, Min.) drew the Mocs to within two of the Falcons. Pfeiffer scored two straight goals off shots from longstick-midfielder Michael Triolo and midfielder Ben Austin, with Hammock on the assist, to go back up four with 4:09 remaining before halftime. VanOverbeke scored his second goal of the afternoon with 1:06 to go to pull FSC to within three before Hammock earned his third goal of the game with 31 seconds to go as the teams went into halftime with Pfeiffer leading 9-5. Murphy and VanOverbeke each tied with two goals in the first half, while Murphy recorded the lone Moccasin assist and picked up a team-high four ground balls in the opening half. In the first start of his Florida Southern career, goalkeeper Matt Lalli (New Milford, Conn.) recorded two saves. Senior midfielder Kevin Naslonski (East Setauket, N.Y.) caused a team-leading two turnovers, while senior midfielder Dan Krispinsky (Bishop Verot, Fort Myers, Fla.) went 8-14 from inside the face-off circle. Pfeiffer outshot Florida Southern 25-18 in the half, while picking up nine ground balls to FSC’s eight. Florida Southern was 8-15 from the face-off circle, while Pfeiffer was 7-15, and the Mocs were a perfect 3-3 on clears. Florida Southern scored one goal on three extra-man opportunities, while Pfeiffer scored once on two man-up opportunities. The Mocs began the third quarter with back-to-back goals from junior attackman Dane Sorensen (Victoria, British Columbia), most notably his first goal off a remarkable dive shot, to pull the Mocs to within two. Freshman attackman Cody Dyer (Slingerlands, N.Y.) was credited with the assist on Sorensen’s second goal exactly 20 seconds after his first. A Falcon goal from Hope off a pass from Shepherd at 10:51, followed by an unassisted goal from midfielder Matthew Michaeli at 6:52, put Pfeiffer back up by four. Sorensen scored his third goal of the game, with an assist from Overbeke, with two seconds left in the quarter to give him a hat trick and to put Florida Southern down 11-8 going into the final quarter. Pfeiffer widened their lead to five with scores from Tilmon at 11:23 and Gilbert at 8:49 to pull ahead 13-8. Murphy’s third goal of the game, this one with during an extra-man opportunity and off an assist by VanOverbeke, put the score at 13-9 with the host team leading with 4:01 to go in the game. The Falcons put the game out of reach with two goals in the last 1:30 of the game. Michaeli’s second goal of the game, followed by a man-down score from Hammock off a pass from Triolo at 1:02 provided the game’s final score. Murphy and VanOverbeke led all Mocs with four points, while Sorensen scored all three of his points in the third quarter. Naslonski and senior defenseman DJ Lubs (Rockford, Mich.) each caused two turnovers, while Lubs led the defense with three ground balls. Krispinsky won 60% of his face-offs taken, winning 15-25, while freshman midfielder Andrew Fisher (Monkton, Md.) went 0-2 in the circle during man-down situations. Lalli finished the afternoon with five saves in the defeat. The Falcons outshot FSC 44-38 on the afternoon, while they also won the ground ball battle (24-18) and committed 15 turnovers to Florida Southern’s 17. While the Mocs only committed six penalties to Pfeiffer’s 10, they were only able to score twice on those extra-man opportunities. Hammock was the Falcons’ leading scorer with four goals and two assists for six points in the afternoon, while defenseman David Lehman and midfielder Clark tied for most caused turnovers with three each. Senior Hayden Kirk took the first win of the season and saved 16 Moccasin shots. The Mocs return to the field on Sunday, Feb. 16, when they welcome 2013 NCAA Tournament participant and New York Tech to Bryant Stadium for the 2014 home opener at 7 p.m. The Bears open their season on Feb. 14 in Tampa against the SSC rival Tampa Spartans (0-0).