Jacksonville Wins; Kerwick Nabs 100th Win
from press release
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The JU men's lacrosse team scored
early and often in the first half to down Providence, 9-4, on a
chilly night at the Ashley Sports Complex.
The Dolphins (3-3) had to endure long possessions from the Friars
(0-2) as the visitors slowed the game to a near standstill for
three quarters. A dominate ground ball performance (45-23) helped
lead the home side to grab head coach Matt Kerwick's 100th win in
Division I play.
JU was paced by another hat trick night from freshman T.J. Kenary
while sophomore Jeremy Tissenbaum added two goals with three more
points coming from the nation's points leader, Ryan Serville (1,2).
Senior goalie Brad Hester played a large part in the defense's
success, making just two saves but coming out of the crease on many
occasions to lead the team in ground balls with seven.
The Friars were paced with four goals by four different players
while goalie Frank Cicero played the last 54 minutes and made six
saves.
"What a great night for us," said Kerwick. "You have to give
Providence a lot of credit for staying in the game and controlling
the pace for the last three quarters. I'm humbled by this milestone
but the night really belongs to the team; we put forth an inspired
effort tonight."
The night may have been cold but the Dolphins came firing out of
the gates with four goals in the first seven minutes.
After losing the opening faceoff, JU forced a turnover at the
defensive end and went down the field, leaving the ball in the
stick of Tissenbaum. The sophomore took the ball behind the cage
and wrapped around for a tidy close-range finish exactly one minute
into the game. TJ Kenary tallied next for the Dolphins off a pass
from freshman Nick Scalzo before he and Serville both found the
back of the net to bring the score to 4-0.
The Dolphins showed no sign of slowing down after the opening four,
tallying the fifth of the game after a turnover at midfield. Scalzo
pushed the ball down the field, found Serville who dished a great
assist to Tiessenbaum.
The game took a bizarre turn during the last five minutes of the
quarter. The Friars took the ball behind the goal and ran
end-to-end, one-on-one, at ‘X' for the remainder of the
quarter. The Dolphins stayed with man-to-man coverage for the
entire possession and fended off a final shot from the
visitors.
Providence continued the tactic into the second quarter before a
forced turnover from the Dolphins put the ball back in the
offensive end.
Midway through the second quarter, the Dolphins killed off two
30-second penalties as their man-down defense would bend but
wouldn't break, giving up several shots on the possessions.
The second quarter saw very little action as the Friars continued
to hold long possessions and the Dolphins continued to stay
man-to-man without double-teams. The second frame produced just one
goal while Providence out-shot the Dolphins, 6-5, after being
outshot, 13-2, in the first quarter.
JU won the opening faceoff of the second half and wasted little
time returning to their scoring ways as Donovan Lange rolled around
the crease and finished on a bounce shot around goalie Cicero just
45 seconds into the half.
After a Friar goal, the Dolphins responded with a Kenary goal at
6:54. Serville took possession behind the goal after a series of
passes and found Kenary unmanned at the side of the crease for the
quick finish.
On the first man-up possession of the game for the home side, the
Dolphins took advantage of the numbers for the eighth goal of the
game with a sharp pass from behind the goal from Max Gurowski to
Kenary, brining the score to 8-2.
The Dolphins would again answer a goal from the Friars at 12:01
when Mann won the ball after a long battle for possession off the
faceoff. The freshman drove towards the goal and played a
behind-the-back pass that deflected off a Friar defender for the
final Dolphin score of the game.
As the final whistle sounded, Kerwick was greeted by a hypothermic
shower from the water cooler by several Dolphins. The team rallied
around their coach, performed an "American Idol"-like rendition of
"For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and hoisted him on their
shoulders.
After two games in four days the Dolphins will take an eight day
break before facing Sacred Heart at D.B. Milne Field at noon on
Saturday, March 13.
