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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.