WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 1, 2009) - The Rollins
men's lacrosse team opened up their 2009 regular season on a high
note with a 14-11 victory over the Antelopes of Grand Canyon
University Sunday afternoon, kicking off the Tars' sophomore season
with a record of 1-0, while the ‘Lopes drop to 1-4
overall.
Sophomore transfer BJ Neller said hello to the Rollins community
in high fashion leading both teams with five goals on the
afternoon. Helping Neller along the way were freshmen Matthew
Lunnen and Cooper
Gilman, who registered four points apiece as Lunnen tallied two
goals and two assists, while Gilman fired off three goals and one
assist to help the Tars to their season's first victory.
Sophomore standout Zach
Cole saw plenty of action in goal making 11 saves and seeing a
total of 22 shots on goal to kick off his highly anticipated season
between the pipes with a .500 save percentage. Making a big
Rollins debut on defense was freshman long pole Andrew Vossler with
12 ground balls and four caused turnovers, as well as a first
quarter assist to help the Tars make their steady comeback in the
initial minutes of the game.
Grand Canyon put themselves up on the board first with a goal
from midfielder Patrick Murphy three minutes into the contest.
Gilman fired back less than a minute later with the equalizer, but
with two straight goals from Grand Canyon the Tars found themselves
down 3-1 with 7:42 remaining in the first period.
Vossler's connection to freshman Austin
Ricci with 3:13 to go in first quarter action helped spark the
Tars back into play, and with a Neller goal off of a pass from
sophomore veteran Matty
Ryan, Rollins found themselves back in the game with a score of
3-3 and a little over a minute left in the first period.
Lunnen fired his first goal behind GCU goalie Andrew Hunter with
just 17 seconds to go in the first quarter, and with steady play to
close out the first quarter the Tars found themselves leading 4-3
before the start of the second period.
The second quarter saw plenty of back and forth action as the
Antelopes grabbed two straight goals to pull ahead by one, but the
Tars quickly reciprocated to bring the score up to 6-5 in their
favor. Murphy slid his second goal of the day behind Cole to tie
the score at six with a less than five minutes to go before the
half, but Neller came through once again with a goal late in the
second quarter to put the Tars up 7-6 entering into break.
The Tars dominated the third quarter, scoring six goals and
silencing Grand Canyon as the Antelopes were unable to place the
ball between the pipes at all throughout the period. Rollins
entered into the fourth quarter with a seven point lead, but that
didn't stop GCU as they exploded into the fourth quarter to score
four unanswered goals to pull back to within three.
Neller tallied the last goal for the Tars with 6:38 remaining in
the game, pulling Rollins back out to a four point lead before
attacker Jason Hippensteel closed out the game for the ‘Lopes
with 2:42 to go in the period to pull Grand Canyon back to within
three. A stingy Rollins defense and solid midfield squad helped
hold back a desperate Antelope offense as the Tars ended the
contest at 14-11, pulling in a victory over fellow second year
program Grand Canyon.
The Tars will have a week to prepare for their next game as they
take on Queens University of Charlotte on Saturday, March 7 in a
2:00 p.m. home matchup. For more information check out www.RollinsSports.com for all
the latest news, broadcasts, and live statistics during the
season.
