WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 9, 2008) ' On a
picture perfect day in Winter Park, Florida, Rollins College
Athletics began a new era in a 20-7 defeat to UCF; the Tars' first
ever men's lacrosse game. Nine and a half minutes into the second
quarter, the Rollins College community would witness history in the
making with a goal from junior midfielder Jay McDermott, assisted
by junior attackman Andy Katz.
Katz led the Tars in scoring with three goals and two assists
for the day, with freshman midfielder Tim Hill close behind
tallying two goals and one assist for the Tars. McDermott would add
an assist to his history-making goal, with sophomore midfielder
Chris Gorman chipping in with two.
Junior attackman Drew Bernstein would see a piece of the action
as well with a goal and assist, completing the seven goal, five
assist total for the inaugural Rollins College men's lacrosse
game.
The Knights began the first quarter with a four goal streak,
kicked off with a goal from directly in front of the net by
sophomore Casey Hodges with a top of the box feed from teammate Gio
Jordan. UCF would score three more in the next six minutes, leaving
the Tars unable to penetrate the Knights' defensive unit.
Rollins was finally able to pull the ball out into their
offensive box off of a turnover from UCF midfielder Andy Bois, but
were not able to find success even with a man-up situation.
Possession would bounce back and forth for the remainder of the
first half, with both offensive ends finding equal play and seeing
shots from the top of the box.
The second quarter began with the Knights controlling the tempo
once again, leaving the Tars' defense in the midst of the action.
But their message to the Knights that they were not going to back
down was received loud and clear as they scrapped their way into
smart slides and tight coverage.
UCF would place four more in the back of the net in the first
four minutes of the second quarter as the Tars still looked to
attain their first goal. With their first face-off possession after
a Knights' Andy Murdock goal with 11:17 left, the Tars would hold
the ball in their offensive end, working the ball around the box
and finally getting a feel for the offensive game.
A turnover would allow UCF's goalie Dave Thomas to clear it
downfield, but an interception from sophomore defenseman Andrew
Cohen would send the ball back where it came from in the Tars'
favor.
The run down field would prove to show some impressive playing
for Rollins as Andy Katz sprinted after a loose ball to barely keep
it from rolling out of bounds, allowing Bernstein to scoop it up
and feed it back into Katz who was sprinting back on field from his
save.
Katz would run the ball in from the back left side of the box
and feed it in front of the UCF cage to hit McDermott who would
quick-stick it into the back of the net for the first ever Rollins
College goal with 9:29 left in the second quarter.
The Knights were able to send three more balls into the cage in
the remainder of the second quarter, and would find success on nine
more shots in the next two after the half, evading the hard working
Rollins defense and finding squeezing around both freshman goalie
Zach Cole and freshman relief goalie Doug O'Brien.
Five more goals would evade the UCF goalie, but the concluding
goal of the game would prove to be the most impressive. With
momentum building in the final minutes, Rollins was able to hold
possession and work the ball around the box to control the
tempo.
After the fifth Rollins goal, the Tars were able to quickly gain
possession again off of the face-off and bring it into their
offensive zone. Right off of a whistle, Jay McDermott quickly
brought the ball in from the top of box to find Andy Katz with a
swift feed. With an effortless catch Katz was able to fire the ball
in with a behind the back shot past the UCF goaltender to tally
their final goal of the game.
The Rollins College men's lacrosse team showed plenty of
improvement throughout their first game, and can only progress
throughout the remainder of the season. With the first-time nerves
out of the way, and a collegiate game under their belts, the Tars
will look to solidify their game play in the contests to come.
The Rollins College men's lacrosse team will be back in action
on their home turf at Showalter Field in Winter Park, Florida on
February 15 against the Savannah College of Art and Design club
team. Fans can catch all the action live on the Citizens Bank of
Florida Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.tv.
