Tars Triumph in 12-10 Win over Coker

Rollins (2-0)

12 -

10

Coker (0-1)

Box Score

HARTSVILLE, S.C. (February 12, 2016) - The Rollins men's lacrosse team opened up to a three goal lead and never looked back as they defeated Coker College by a final score of 12-10 on Friday afternoon at the Coker Athletic Field. The win advances the Tars' young season to a record of 2-0, while the Cobras open up 2016 with a mark of 0-1.

Helping the Tars to their regional victory were senior Morgan Baker and junior Carson Buell, who each tallied a hat trick on the afternoon. Alex Petsos, A.J. Gogan, Clay Phillips, Nicholas Schultz, Andrew Matthews, and Lucas Brush scored one apiece. Junior attackman Jack Vonarb tallied a game best four assists, while Justin Diamond, Jeremy Slocumb, and Phillips added each dished out an assist of their own.

Petsos was key for the Tars throughout the entire contest, winning 17-of-22 faceoff attempts for a win percentage of .773. The Allen, Texas native picked up a game high 13 ground balls, followed by Brush who earned five while adding a team best two caused turnovers. In cage, sophomore Jake Hogan saw a full 60 minutes of action, facing 28 shots and 16 shots on goal while making six saves to help the Tars to their second-straight win.

The Cobras were led by Shane Wilson with three goals. Mike Martiello and Rylee Marsh, scored two goals apiece, while Josh Smith and Martiello each contributed two assists on the afternoon. Leading the team in overall points were Martiello and Wilson with four each. In goal for Coker, Anthony Malik set aside a total of 12 shots while allowing 12 to hit the back of the net. In all, Malik faced 37 shots and 24 shots on target from the Tars.

Rollins led the shot count 37-28, and controlled the ground ball count, 28-19. The Tars converted on 2-of-3 man-up situations, while a staunch Rollins man-down defense held Coker to just two goals on nine man-up opportunities.

The Tars got the game rolling with a goal from Schultz off of an assist by Vonarb with 12:13 on the clock in the first quarter, and then seven seconds later jumped ahead to 2-0 with an unassisted goal by Brush. Gogan extended the lead to three with an unassisted goal at the 10:45 mark, and the Tars defense held steady for the remainder of the first quarter until a late goal by Marsh to put the Cobras on the board with 1:55 to go before the break.

The second stanza got under way with a lull in scoring, but Vonarb connected to Baker for a goal with 11:28 left before the half to put the Tars up 4-1. Petsos won the ensuing faceoff and took the ball down for a solid shot past Malik just seven second later to give Rollins a 5-1 lead, but Coker answered back with four unanswered goals to knot the score at 5-5 with 4:04 left in the half.

Rollins took advantage of a man-up opportunity, and Vonarb found Buell for the goal with 3:26 on the clock, and a goal by Baker off of an assist by Phillips gave the Tars a 7-5 lead at the halftime break.

The Tars opened up play in the third quarter with two quick goals less than a minute into the frame, extending their lead to 9-5 with 14:12 left in the period. Coker answered back with two of their own, but Rollins placed another on the scoreboard to close out the third quarter with a score of 10-7.

The final quarter saw both teams trade blows to set the score at 12-9 with 7:36 left in the game, and a late goal by the Cobras pulled them to within two with 2:24 to go. But the Tars were able to keep Coker from capitalizing on their opportunities on attack to close out the game with a final score of 12-10 in favor of Rollins.

The Tars return to action on Sunday, February 14, then they take on Mount Olive on the road in Mount Olive, N.C. Game time against the Trojans is set for 1 p.m. Links to live coverage will be available on RollinsSports.com.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the Rollins men's lacrosse team, fans can visit RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins Sports on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.