LAKELAND, Fla. - Saint Leo men's lacrosse middie Robert Hutchinson collected a career high 11 ground balls as he went 13-for-26 on faceoffs, and tallied two goals in the Lions 14-10 loss to Florida Southern on Saturday evening at Bryant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla. The Lions conclude their regular season with a record of 7-6 and 4-4 in Deep South Conference action, while the Mocs advance to 8-5, and 6-2 in conference.
George Proechel led the team with five points, tallying a hat trick and two assists on the night. Robert Hutchinson was close behind with two, while Matt Obermeyer, Chris Caiazza, Kevin Hutchinson, Ray Ferrara, and Ryan Burke scored one goal each. Caiazza and Obermeyer added one assist apiece to close out the Lions' scoring efforts for the evening.
Patrick Berry made 11 saves on the evening, collecting two ground balls in the process. His counterpart, Andrew Almansberger, made six saves while allowing 10 goals.
The Mocs saw three players earn a hat trick, as Jon Freda, Dane Sorensen, and Mat Thompson scored three goals each. Freda led the game with six points as he added three assists to his total.
Florida Southern jumped out to a three goal lead before the Lions could place a point on the scoreboard thanks to a goal from
Kevin Hutchinson off of a Caiazza assist with 9:09 remaining in the first quarter. Both teams traded blows once around to close out the first period with a score of 4-2.
The Mocs opened up the second stanza with two more goals to pull ahead 6-2, but Ferrara ripped a shot past Almansberger to close the gap to 6-3 with 10:39 to go before the half. Florida Southern netted the next goal, but Obermeyer answered back off of an assist from Proechel to pull within three, 7-4, with 2:12 on the clock.
Despite the Lions' best defensive efforts, Sorensen scored with 23 seconds remaining. The ensuing faceoff was won by the Mocs, and a shot by Sorensen at the horn squeaked past Berry to set the score at 9-4 at the half.
Saint Leo changed its game plan at the break, and came out with the first two goals of the third period to pull within three, 9-6, with 8:07 on the clock. However, Florida Southern closed out the quarter with three straight, extending their advantage to 12-6.
The Green and Gold outscored Florida Southern 4-2, including two goals from
Robert Hutchinson late in the game to create some last-minute momentum, but the Lions were unable to pull out a victory in their final regular season contest.
The Lions return to action on Tuesday, April 10, when they travel back to Bryant Stadium to take on the Moccasins in the first round of the Deep South Conference Tournament. Faceoff against the Mocs is slated for 7 p.m. Fans will be able to catch all of the action live at saintleolions.com.
