Apr. 15th, 2002 - # 15 Florida takes Georgia Tech in Atlanta

Special to USLIA.com by Dave Adams

The #15 Florida Gators scored six goals in the 4th quarter to beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in a tight ballgame in Atlanta. Brian Jones (Oviedo, FL; Oviedo) and Danny Hogan (Longwood, FL; Lake Brantley) had 4 goals each to lead the Florida scoring effort. Junior attackman Brian Montgomery (Longwood, FL; Lake Mary) added 2 goals and 4 assists for the Gators. Georgia Tech's Will Oakley led the scoring for the Yellow Jackets with 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists).

Georgia Tech, needing a win to secure a birth to the SELC Championship Tournament, came out firing in the first quarter. The Jackets scored the first 4 goals of the contest. Two goals by Gary Bridges (Sugar Land, TX; Clements), and one each by Craig Kronethal (Englishtown, NJ; St. John's Vianney) and Jim Pallotta (Winchester, MA; Winchester High School) will allow Tech to gain an early 4 – 0 advantage on their home field. Florida would not answer until 44 seconds left in quarter with a goal by Brian Jones. The Yellow Jackets appeared ready for the challenge of playing the 15th ranked team in the country and led by 3 goals heading into the 2nd quarter of play.

Junior Midfielder Steve Belford (Longwood, FL; Lake Brantley) opened the scoring the 2nd stanza with a quick fast break goal. Sophomore Georgia Tech midfielder Will Oakley (Wilmington, NC; Saint Andrews) scored shortly thereafter. Oakley and Bob Jaeger (Orchard Park, NY; Orchard Park) added one goal each in the second quarter to increase the Georgia Tech lead to 6-3. Attackman Danny Hogan led a late Florida charge in the second period, scoring three consecutive goals for the Gators, to tie it up at 7 all.

The third quarter was highlighted by spirited play by both defenses. Georgia Tech was led by their Junior Defenseman Bryant Jarrell (Springfield, VA; Lake Braddock) and the Gators were led by Senior Defenseman Troy Shellhammer (Longwood, FL; Lake Brantley). Georgia Tech Senior Goalie Mike Wojtaszeck (Westminster, MD; Calvert Hall) was once again outstanding in the nets, tallying 20 saves on the contest.

Each team would only score one goal each in the 3rd stanza; One for the Jackets by Bob Jaeger and one for the Gators by Brian Jones. The score remained tied at 8 goals heading into the final period of play in Atlanta.

Florida attackman Brian Montgomery gave Florida its first lead of the day with a goal 30 seconds into the fourth quarter. Tech's Will Oakley scored shortly thereafter to tie it up once again.

With 11:30 left in the game, Montgomery responded with another goal to give the Gators the lead for good. Florida outran the Georgia Tech midway through the last quarter with a quick transition offense. Danny Hogan noted, "Freshman Craig Miller sparked the whole team by winning three face offs in a row. It sparked up our transition game; that got us going." Florida scored the final four goals of the contest with two goals by Brian Jones, and one goal each by Steve Larsen and Chris O'Donnell. Florida utilized their superior speed on the fast turf in the fourth quarter to secure the victory of the first ever meeting between the teams.

Georgia Tech Head Coach Ken Lovic added, "It was a well played game. Florida has a very good transition game and a very good man up offens. Thats what hurt us today. We just couldn't run a transition game with them."

Florida's head coach Tim Ray was pleased with the outcome. "We were well conditioned. We took Georgia Tech very seriously and I think it definitely showed here... to play back to back games and pull out a win in the fourth quarter when your supposed to be tired. It didn't look like we let down at all. It looked like our fourth quarter was just as fast as our first. If anything, I think our first was slower than our fourth. I think we got to start getting out of the gate a little sooner and stop spotting teams some points and then always coming from behind. But we make the games nice for the fans, I guess. Attackmen Brian Montgomery and Brian Jones had great games for our squad."

Georgia Tech hosts rival Georgia next Saturday in Atlanta to conclude the 2002 SELC regular season. The Jackets remain hopeful for a bid to the 2002 SELC Tournament in Chattanooga. # 15 Florida (7 – 4) travels to Raleigh, North Carolina to face NC State and South Carolina next weekend.

Florida at Georgia Tech
Sunday, April 14, 2002
Atlanta, GA
Georgia Tech Student Athletic Center Fields

Box Score:
Team: 1st Qtr – 2nd Qtr – 3rd Qtr – 4th Qtr = Final
GT: 4 – 3 – 1 - 1 = 9
Florida: 1 – 6 – 1 - 6 = 14

Individual Scoring:
GT: Will Oakley 3g, 2a; Bob Jaeger 2g; Gary Bridges, 2g; Jim Pallotta, 1g, 1a; Craig Kronethal 1g; Will Monk 1a.

Florida: Brian Jones, 4g; Danny Hogan 4g; Brian Montgomery 2g, 4a; Steve Larsen 2g, 1a; Chris O'Donnell, 1g; Steve Belford, 1g; Jimbo Favero, 2a; C. Miller 1a.

Saves: Georgia Tech's Mike Wojtaszeck: 60 minutes of play, 20 saves; Florida Steve Maszey: 60 minutes of play, 15 saves

Ground balls (1st Qtr – 2nd Qtr – 3rd Qtr – 4th Qtr = Final)
GT: 12 – 12 – 7 - 9 = 40
Florida: 7 – 16 – 5 - 4 = 32

Shots:
GT: 16 – 7 – 12 - 7 = 42
Florida: 12 – 13 – 6 - 15 = 46

Extra-Man Opportunities (EMO goals/total EMO chances)
GT: 0/1 - 1/1 - 0/5 - 0/2 = 1/9
Florida: 0/1 - 2/2 - 1/1 - 1/1 = 4/5

Penalties (# of penalties/total penalty time):
GT: 9 / 6:00 min
Florida: 10 / 8:30 min

Weather: 65 degrees, cloudy
Crowd: 125 People
Officials: L. Diaz, K. Moore, R. Rance.

Selected Photos are courtesy of Dave Adams