The Florida State lacrosse team won three straight games in Atlanta, Ga. over the weekend to win the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference Tournament title. The Tribe (16-2, 12-2 SELC) defeated Georgia 15-11 Friday, and then took down No. 23 Auburn 13-8 Saturday.

FSU was then able to win a 16-3 game against No. 14 Virginia Tech to take the SELC Tournament title. The 'Noles finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association poll, but had lost their last two games entering the SELC Tournament.

Those two losses may have been what the team needed to get their minds back on track for the postseason.

"We just started to play like Florida State lacrosse again," FSU assistant coach Matt Waesche said. "It had been a while since we had played our brand of ball, and it was good to see us get back to that - lots of crisp passes and cutting to the net all weekend and lots of fight for all four quarters."

FSU had already beaten Georgia (6-9, 4-5 SELC) 13-7 earlier this season as part of the Southern Shootout Tournament. Georgia did defeat the Seminoles twice last season - once in Tallahassee and once in the SELC Tournament - so Florida State players felt like they owed the Bulldogs a little bit of a payback.

"Beating Georgia is big for us," FSU midfielder Jake Hornstein said earlier this season. "They've beaten us the last couple times we've played them, and they were actually better than we were last year." Game two for the 'Noles was against the top-seeded Auburn Tigers (10-1, 6-1 SELC). Auburn scored the first three goals of the game, but FSU players did not panic.

"We didn't have to fire the guys up, but really just settle everyone down," Waesche said. "We had to get their focus back on what we wanted to do and not get too crazy out there. It was just a good team win."

Attacker Tyler Richey poured in two goals and dished out two assists in the contest, while midfielder Jon Yates had a team-high three goals.

Senior midfielder Alex Pettit had both a goal and an assist, but contributed more than his stats showed.

"(Pettit) really was the player of the game because he had a ton of gritty groundballs," Waesche said. "He hurt his shoulder on Friday night, and we all thought he wasn't going to be able to play Saturday.

"But he fought through it and was all over the field, going for every groundball, and scored a tremendous goal by going through three guys. He wouldn't be denied, and nothing was going to keep him off the field."

Pettit missed several games over the last six weeks with a shoulder injury and had not scored a goal since the team's game against Miami March 7.

"I've really worked to try and get back to help the team," Pettit said before the tournament. "I've been playing here for four years now, and I want it to be the best ever for FSU lacrosse."

The championship game matched up the Tribe with arguably their biggest rival in the SELC the last few years. Virginia Tech (14-3, 10-1 SELC) handed the 'Noles their first loss of the season, so the win not only avenged that loss, but also ensured the Seminoles a trip to the MCLA National Tournament. FSU never trailed in the game en route to the tournament crown.

Goalie John Goodrich and attacker Corey noonan were named Defensive and Offensive Players of the Tournament, respectively.

The 16-team MCLA National Tournament begins May 12 in Denver, Colo., and concludes with the championship game on May 16.

2009-04-28