Men's Lacrosse Suffers First Loss With 13-8 Defeat By Florida Southern

LAKELAND, FL – Florida Southern handed visiting Catawba its first loss of the season as the Moccasins claimed a 13-8 win in Deep South Conference men’s lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon at Bryant Stadium.  Florida Southern improves to 3-4 on the season and 2-2 in the DSC.  The 10th-ranked Catawba Indians fall to 6-1 and 2-1.

Florida Southern never trailed, pulling away with four straight goals in the second quarter to lead 6-2 at the break.  Mat Thompson got the Moccasins out quickly with two goals midway through the first quarter.  Catawba responded and tied the game early in the second on a tally by John Scheich (Waxhaw, NC/Weddington HS).  Thompson returned the lead to Florida Southern at the 12:01 mark and started a five-goal spurt that he capped early in the third for a 7-2 edge. 

Catawba would score four of the next five goals to get within 8-6 on Freddie Turcio’s (Guilford, CT/Guilford HS) tally with 11:29 remaining, but Ricky DeMicco scored twice around a goal from Thompson to put the Moccasins up 11-6 with 8:14 remaining.  Thomson had five goals to lead Florida Southern.  Dane Sorensen had two goals and four assists.  Jon Freda had one goal and four helpers.  DeMicco added three goals.  Andrews Almansberger collected a dozen saves in goal.

Turcio was the lone Indians with multiple goals, scoring twice.  Scheich and Alex Dantzler (Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs HS) each had a goal and an assist.  Michael Pecchia (Coquitlum, BC, CANADA/Heritage Woods HS) made 18 saves for Catawba.  Daniel Rew (Forest Hill, MD/Bel Air HS) won 13 of 19 face-off attempts.

Florida Southern held a 45-33 edge in shots and went 2-for-5 on man-up situations.  Catawba had 19 turnovers to just nine for the Moccasins.