WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 17, 2009) –
Sophomore goalie Zach
Cole made a stunning career high 25 saves as the Rollins men's
lacrosse team overcame a 9-5 deficit in the final 20 minutes of
action to pull out a 10-9 victory over Franklin Pierce University
in Winter Park, Tuesday evening. The Tars bounce back after two
frustrating losses to climb to 2-3 overall, while the Franklin
Pierce Ravens continue their season at 0-3.
Cole's 25 saves helped the Tars stay in contention while they
battled their way to the lead, with Cole holding the Ravens to just
one goal in the third quarter while he made eight saves. Cole's
seven saves in the fourth quarter kept FPU silent, allowing the
Tars to fire off four unanswered tallies to take a one point lead
in the final minutes of the game.
Freshman attacker Austin
Ricci led the game with three goals and three assists on the
way to the Tars' hard-fought victory. Joining Ricci on the
scoreboard was BJ
Neller with two as tallied his first late in the second period,
and then ripped the game-winning goal on a fast break clear with
1:46 remaining after freshman Alex
Patch fired the equalizer between the pipes with 3:20 on the
clock.
Freshmen Charles
Cook, Dan
Huettenmoser, Cooper
Gilman, and Drew
Berger, notched one goal apiece, while Cook, Neller, Clay
Palmer, and Andrew
Post tallied one assist each to make a total of eight Tars
contributing to the final score. Defensively, freshman Andrew
Vossler fought hard for the Tars as he collected nine ground
balls and caused five turnovers. Joining Vossler was Post with
seven ground balls as he went 9-15 on face-offs.
Franklin Pierce was headed-up by Jon Autorino with three goals,
while Jack Scanlan and Jonathan Martinez notched two each. Jason
Flanigan and Michael Hagerty tallied one goal apiece while Jacob
Ferreira grabbed two assists with Devon Dupuis and Spencer Murray
registered one assist each on the evening for the Ravens.
It was back and forth action in the first five minutes of the
game as Franklin Pierce and Rollins went one-for-one to even up the
score at 2-2 with 10 minutes to go in first quarter action. But
with a three-goal run from the Ravens the Tars found themselves
down 5-2 with five minutes remaining in the period. Ricci closed
out the quarter to pull Rollins to within two, but the Tars still
had an uphill battle to face as they entered into the second
quarter.
Franklin Pierce out-scored Rollins 3-2 in the second quarter to
enter into the half with a score of 8-5, with Ricci once again
closing out the period with a ball in the cage to pull Rollins back
into the game after falling to a four-goal deficit throughout the
quarter.
The Ravens once again opened up the action after the half as
Flanigan fired off the ninth goal for Franklin Pierce off of an
assist from Ferreira with 8:15 remaining in the third quarter.
Berger fired a goal through the pipes three minutes later to put
the score at 9-5, and Cole's eight saves throughout the third
period held the Ravens to just one point in 15 minutes as he denied
89 percent of their shots on goal.
The Tars exploded into the fourth quarter as a stingy Rollins
defense shut out Franklin Pierce for the full 15 minutes. Gilman
notched his goal with 7:22 to go on the clock to put the score at
9-7, and Ricci's final goal of the afternoon with 3:40 left put the
Tars within one point of the Ravens.
Neller grabbed the equalizer 20 seconds later off of an assist
from Ricci, tying the score at 9-9 with 3:20 on the clock. While
the Rollins defense worked to hold the Ravens silent in the final
minutes, Neller made good on a fast break clear down field to rip
the game-winning goal past FPU goalie Shea Campbell with 1:46
left. The Tars put the heat on in the final minute and a half to
shut-out their opponent in fourth quarter action and pick up their
second win of the season.
The Rollins men's lacrosse team will be back in action on
Saturday, March 21, when they take on Saint Michael's College at
noon in Winter Park. For the latest news, statistics, and updates
on all of Rollins men's lacrosse, check out the Tars home on the
web at www.RollinsSports.com.
