Rollins Upsets No. 7 Gannon in Florida
WINTER PARK, Fla. -- Six Tars put points up on the scoreboard as
second-year program Rollins College defeated seventh-ranked Gannon
University 15-13 in an overtime thriller on Wednesday evening in
Winter Park, Fla. With the win the Tars advance to a mark of 2-1,
while Gannon kicks off their 2009 campaign at 0-1.
Junior midfielder Marissa Giannerini led the way in goals as she
notched four, all of which in the second half, to help the Tars to
their triumphant evening. Behind Giannerini were sophomore
standouts Liz Connelly and Katy Tyszko with three and two goals,
respectively. Both returning veterans tallied assists throughout
the night, as Connelly tabbed one and Tyszko supported on four to
lead the team with six points overall.
Freshmen Cat Kelley, Bizzie Durrell, and Tori Snow contributed to
the goal count as they scored three, two and one to round out the
evening, while Mallory Surpless registered two assists of her own
to contribute to the win.
Seeing a total of 66 minutes in cage was senior goalkeeper Lisa
Weber, who saw a total of 26 shots, making 10 saves and grabbing
three ground balls to anchor the back end. Connelly sparked the
Tars in the midfield as she snatched a total of seven draw controls
to ignite the offense.
The Golden Knights were led by senior midfielder Colleen Dixon with
six goals, while senior attacker Krista Schunk tallied four goals
and one assist for five points on the night. Senior goalkeeper
Acaia Cook made nine saves to help Gannon hang as tough opposition
throughout the entire
contest.
In a battle that saw the score tied nine times and the lead change
five times, to say that the competition was close is an
understatement.
Gannon put themselves up on the board early in the game as Dixon
placed the ball between the pipes just a minute into play. But
Durell answered back three minutes later after a quick assist from
Connelly to put the Tars on the scoreboard as well and even out the
score at 1-1.
The two teams went goal for goal throughout the next seven minutes,
and after a Connelly score from a Surpless assist to even out the
score at three, Rollins jumped out to their first lead of the game
as Tyszko fired one to the back of the net with 12 minutes to go in
first half action. The two teams went goal for goal once again and
entered into the half with the scored tied at five.
Gannon came out of the break with goals on their mind as Dixon
notched two quick tallies and Schunk registered a third to put the
Golden Knights up 8-5 with 23:35 to go. But Giannerini fired-up
Rollins as she fired a pass from Tyszko into the cage, and then
notched another
unassisted goal 15 seconds later to bring the deficit to one.
Connelly and Tyszko worked together to grab the equalizer with
21:28 remaining, and with the score tied at eight the back and
forth battle would ensue once more to bring the score to nine
apiece.
Giannerini grabbed two straight goals once more to help the Tars
pull ahead 11-9 with 14:57 to go, but Gannon fought hard to pull
themselves back into the action and with 4:15 left on the clock the
score was fixed at 12.
Two minutes elapsed before Dixon could help the Golden Knights pull
ahead 13-12, but with 52 seconds to go in regulation Tyszko found
an assist from Surpless and placed the ball perfectly to tie-up the
game at 13-13.
The following draw control was won over by the Golden Knights, but
a stingy Rollins defense helped strip the ball away, and as the
Tars looked to clear the ball down field a Rollins timeout was
called with just 32 ticks left on the clock. After the break the
Tars moved carefully, but a saved shot with just three seconds left
kept the score tied at 13 and moved the game into overtime
action.
Kelley and Connelly pulled out two unassisted goals in the first
round of overtime, and the Tars held Gannon throughout the entire
six minute OT period as Rollins silenced the Golden Knights for
good with a 15-13 final score.
The Tars will be back in action on Tuesday, March 10 when they take
on Queens University of Charlotte in an 11:00 a.m. home game. Fans
can stay up to date on all of the latest women's lacrosse action at
www.RolllinsSports.com.
