After trailing 3-7 at the half, the Rollins men’s lacrosse team rallied to score 12 goals and give the Queens University of Charlotte Royals a run for their money in the final two periods. Despite the second half outburst, the Tars fell to the Royals 16-15 in regulation.

Rollins (1-1) was led by sophomore transfer BJ Neller with four goals and one assist, while Queens (2-2) was headed-up by Stephan LeBlanc with four goals and two assists on the afternoon.

The Tars saw scoring action from eight different players as Neller was joined by freshman attacker Cooper Gilman who tallied three goals and two assists to match Neller in overall points. Fellow freshman Austin Ricci ripped the ball between the pipes three times as well, while Jay McDermott, Clay Palmer, Matthew Lunnen, Alex Patch, and Dan Huettenmoser found the back of the net once.

Zach Cole remained steadfast as always between the pipes as he collected 16 saves on the afternoon after seeing a total of 41 shots. Defensively, the Tars were led once again by freshman long pole Andrew Vossler who led the team with four ground balls.

A solid defensive unit helped hold the Royals to just 50 percent in extra-man situations, while the Tars found success on 66 percent of their power play opportunities, which helped spark their 12-goal scoring spree in the final 30 minutes of action as they were 2-for-2 and 2-for-3 in extra man opportunities.

The game started out with plenty of back and forth action as the Royals jumped on the board first with a LeBlanc goal just 36 seconds into the contest. Huettenmoser retaliated with a goal of his own to put the Tars up alongside Queens, and with 10:41 remaining in the second quarter an unassisted goal from Neller helped equalize the score at 3-3. But, the Royals jumped on the Tars as they sat back on their heels for the final ten minutes of second quarter play, leaving the Tars in a four point deficit entering into the half.

Rollins came out of the break with a different mind set as a quick connection from Gilman to Neller closed the gap to 7-4. LeBlanc rallied a goal of his own to pull the lead to four once again, but McDermott pulled the Tars closer as his unassisted goal just 23 seconds later ignited the team.

33 seconds after McDermott’s goal, Gilman held onto a pass from Lunnen to pull Rollins to within two. 37 seconds afterward, Andrew Cohen fed Neller a smooth pass on a fast break to bring the score to 8-7. Neller evened up the tally at eight with his fourth goal of the afternoon, but Queens closed out the third period with two quick goals to enter into the final quarter leading 10-8.

Rollins was not about to back down despite the Royals opening up the final period by jumping out to a six point lead with a score of 15-9 and 9:29 remaining.

Ricci opened up a scoring stretch for Rollins as his first goal with 8:44 turned up the heat. Two minutes later Neller found Palmer to bring the tally to 15-11, and with Gilman’s second goal of the day registering with 5:12 to go, the Tars found themselves steadily closing in on Queens. Ricci helped quickly bring Rollins to within one goal as Ian Tarrant and Gilman helped him fire off two goals in just 14 seconds to close the gap to 15-14.

Despite a tough Rollins defense, the Royals were able to secure their final goal of the game with an unassisted tally from Andrew Capallo as the clock counted down. Lunnen found Gilman with just 1:26 left in fourth-quarter action to put the score at 16-15, but the Tars were unable to pull out an equalizer in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.

The Tars will be back in action on Tuesday, March 10 when they open up their Deep South Conference line up against Catawba College in a 2:00 p.m. home match in Winter Park. Fans can stay up to date on all of the latest Rollins men’s lacrosse action at the Tars home on the web at www.RollinsSports.com.

Click the image to watch the goals. If you want to buy the Game DVD add it to your cart

What do I get with the DVDs?

Sample Image

• Full quality video not compressed for the web
• Menu System allowing you to view 1st Half, 2nd Half, and highlights in any order.
• DVD surface is directly printed on for quality, NOT a stick on label
• Clear case to hold & protect the DVD
• Memories

Click the image to watch the goals. If you want to buy the Game DVD add it to your cart

What do I get with the DVDs?

Sample Image

• Full quality video not compressed for the web
• Menu System allowing you to view 1st Half, 2nd Half, and highlights in any order.
• DVD surface is directly printed on for quality, NOT a stick on label
• Clear case to hold & protect the DVD
• Memories

Game Notes

Click the image to watch the goals. If you want to buy the Game DVD add it to your cart

What do I get with the DVDs?

Sample Image

• Full quality video not compressed for the web
• Menu System allowing you to view 1st Half, 2nd Half, and highlights in any order.
• DVD surface is directly printed on for quality, NOT a stick on label
• Clear case to hold & protect the DVD
• Memories

Game Notes

Game Summary:

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.

Freshman midfielder Tim Hill would lead the Tars in scoring with three goals for the day, with Katz close behind tallying two goals and two assists for the Tars. McDermott would add an assist to his history-making goal, with sophomore midfielder Christopher Gorman posting one goal and one assist.

Junior attackman Drew Bernstein would see a piece of the action as well with an assist on a Katz goal, 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 arc 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 remaining of the first half, with both offensive ends finding equal play and seeing shots from the top of the arc.

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 arc 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 arc 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 cage, 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 arc and controlling 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 to the top of arc to find Andy Katz with a swift feed, and with an effortless catch Katz was able to fire the ball in 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.