WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 27, 2011) - Rollins
junior attackman Austin Ricci scored six goals, setting a new
program record for goals in a game, as the Tars took on Deep South
Conference opponent Lenoir-Rhyne University on Sunday afternoon in
Winter Park. Despite the Tars' best efforts, Rollins fell to the
Bears 13-12.
Rollins drops to an overall mark of 2-8, and 0-6 in Deep South
Conference action, while Lenoir-Rhyne advances to 3-8, and picks up
their first ever conference victory to put their DSC mark at 1-4 on
the season.
Ricci's career day was backed up by Eric Schmit, Charlie Shelly,
and Peter Harvey, who each netted two goals to close out the goal
scoring on the afternoon. Schmit led the Tars in assists with
three, while James Libutti and Shelly each dished out two, and
Matthew Lunnen earned an assist of his own as the Tars posted a
total of 20 points on the afternoon.
Lenoir-Rhyne's Tyler Kotch, Anthony Mangili, and Robbert Darrow
took charge for the Bears as each posted a hat trick. Four more
Bears scored goals to round out the goal count, and six earned
assists with Fred Waddle posting a three-point performance with one
goal and two assists.
The Bears were able to hold Rollins at bay thanks to an 18 save
performance from goalie Patrick Stasio. Doug O'Brien saw the
entire game between the pipes for Rollins, setting aside a total of
six shots, while allowing 13.
Rollins pulled ahead to an early lead as Schmit connected on a
pass to Ricci, who ripped a shot past Stasio a minute and a half
into the contest. Ricci and Schmit teamed up once again four
minutes later to pull the Tars out to a 2-0 advantage, but the
Bears fought back and scored four straight to pull ahead to a 4-2
lead with 2:51 remaining in the quarter.
Schmit pulled the Tars back to within one on an unassisted goal
with 19 seconds left in the period, giving the Bears a meager 4-3
lead entering into second quarter action. LRU's Gus Ratcliff
extended the advantage back out to two just 15 seconds into the
second period, pulling the Bears ahead 5-3, but Schmit connected a
pass to Shelly 39 seconds later to pull the Tars back to within one
with 5-4 on the scoreboard and 14:06 before the half
Both teams traded blows, but Lenoir-Rhyne outscored the Tars 3-2
in the second period to enter into the break with a 7-5 lead.
Rollins exploded out of the halftime break with Ricci ripping
two-straight, grabbing the equalizer on a man-up goal with 9:45
remaining in the third quarter and the score knotted at 7-7. LRU's
Kotch tallied the ensuing goal, but a swift pass across the box
from Lunnen to Shelly resulted in a Rollins goal to tie the game at
8-8 with 6:29 remaining in the quarter.
Mangili gave the Bears a one goal advantage with 1:14 before the
break, but Schmit got to work as the clock ticked down, grabbing a
pass from Libutti to even the count at 9-9 with just 12 second left
in the third quarter.
Tension entering into the final period was high, but the Tars
pulled ahead 10-9 at the onset thanks to Ricci off of a Shelly
assist 65 seconds in. Lenoir-Rhyne scored two-straight to pull
back into the lead with a score of 11-10 and 8:46 remaining on the
clock, but Libutti connected a quick pass to Ricci for yet another
game-tying goal with 7:48 to go.
Lenoir-Rhyne pushed hard on the ensuing faceoff, and capitalized
on a shot just 13 seconds later to pull back out to a one goal
lead, and extended their advantage to two thanks to a man-up goal
from Kotch to set the score at 13-11 with 1:59 remaining in the
game.
Rollins was able to press for the ball on the next possession,
and Harvey split two defenders for a hard shot past Stasio to pull
the Tars back to within one with 54 seconds on the clock. The Tars
were able to grab the ensuing faceoff, but couldn't capitalize on a
late shot from Ricci with eight seconds left.
The Tars led the shot count 48-32, as well as stifled their
opponent off the ground with 41 ground balls, and a 79 percent
success rate on faceoffs thanks to Schmit who won 13-of-15, and
Harvey who was 10-of-14. Harvey led the team with a game high
seven ground balls, while Schmit and Andrew Vossler each earned
six.
Defensively, Nick Scannapieco helped lead the charge as he
caused four turnovers, and helped lead a man-down unit that held
the Bears to one goal on two opportunities.
Rollins returns to action on Friday, April 1, when they travel
to Laurinburg, N.C. to take on St. Andrews Presbyterian College.
Game time against the Knights is set for 3:30 p.m. Fans will be
able to catch all of the action live on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
