Apr. 18th, 2003 - Georgia Tech upends rival Georgia 13-3
Article/Photos by Dave Adams
Athens, GA – After a slow first half, Georgia Tech exploded for 7 goals in the 3rd quarter to defeat arch-rival Georgia by 10 on a overcast Thursday evening in Athens. Coming off a huge road victory over Auburn the previous Saturday, the 16th ranked Yellow Jackets (10-3) concluded their regular season with an impressive 10 – 3 record. Georgia Tech was led by Sean Dvoran (St. Mary's; Manhasset, NY) who had a game high 10 points (5g, 5a)
The host Bulldogs were also coming off an impressive road victory of their own last week. Georgia had defeated Tennessee in Knoxville by 5 goals last Saturday.
Defense was the order of the day in the first half, especially in the first quarter as neither offense could find their rhythm or the back of the nets. The first stanza was highlighted by several outstanding saves by Georgia freshman goalie David Knighton (The Westminster School; Atlanta, GA).
Sean Dvoran opened the scoring early in the second quarter for Georgia Tech, only to be answered by Georgia's Peter McCutcheon. Both teams scored again to keep the game tied until the final 14 seconds of the 1st half when Bob Jaeger (Orchard Park; Orchard Park, NY) added a goal to give the Jackets a 3 – 2 lead at the half. Jaeger would finish the night with 5 goals. Some light showers prior to the game made the Bermuda grass slippery which added to some sloppy play for both teams.
With the game up for grabs at the half, Georgia Tech came out on fire, scoring early and often. The Jackets, dominated possession of the ball, and netted seven goals to put the game away 10-3 at the end of the third quarter. Tech was aided by a feisty defense that constantly flustered the Georgia offense.
Georgia Tech head coach Ken Lovic noted the effort. "It was a great effort in the second half by the guys. We obviously came out there very flat in the first half. I think we underestimated Georgia; they obviously had a lot of revenge on their mind from last year. They're obviously a much improved team. In the second half, the kids came out focused and played very, very well. Great job by our offense down there to take it to the cage; We just ran the offense beautifully in the second half. Dvoran and Jaeger both had excellent games for us on attack. Freshman goalie Andy Babcock and our defensive middies (Mike Virga, Brent Burdett, and Brady Broich) did a great job today."
Things went from bad to worse in the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs as they sustained a key injury to one of their standouts. Georgia Coach Waldo Terrell discussed the injury to Junior Midfielder Ben Nyquist (Trinity Pawling; Pawling, NY). "We lost Nyquist toward the end. He is one of our key players. He broke his finger and had to go to the hospital. He's a real leader for us in the midfield and it looks like he's going to be out for the season, baring a miracle. That hurts us. He is the heart and soul of our team."
Sophomore Eric Teitz led the Georgia scoring with two goals. The attackman from Westlake in Austin, Texas has had an impressive year and is one of the team leaders in scoring.
Terrell noted his team's effort and offered some praise to the rivals from Atlanta. "We played well in the first half. I thought our goaltender played well in the first half, but to be honest, you can't play defense 80 percent of the time and expect to win. Georgia Tech did a fantastic job of possessing the ball and really just controlled the game through their offense. I was really impressed with their defense. Their defensive coordinator (Rob Lyng; Harvard University) is incredible. They play a simple fundamentally sound. We try to do the same stuff that they do; they just do it better. We harp on the fundamentals as well, but they are a solid, solid ball club."
Both coaches were excited to be playing in next weeks SELC Tournament which will return to Atlanta after a 5 year stint at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga. Lovic is excited. "We're looking forward to it. I think it's going to be an exciting weekend of lacrosse in Atlanta. We're playing at a good level right now and we're real excited to give the people our best."
Acknowledging his team's favorable seeding going into the Division B bracket of the tournament, Terrell said, "It's hard to play as a favorite. We beat the teams that we are going to have to play by about eleven goals in the regular season. So it's going to be a tough job getting psyched to play these guys, not to take anything away form those guys. On the other hand, it's hard to beat a team twice in one year. They know what we're going to bring to the table. So we've got to continue to play well, play focused or we may go home early again."
Game notes: The Georgia home field in Athens was painted with a 20 foot diameter "G" logo; however the midfield logo did not phase the Yellow Jackets as they controlled most of the face-offs on this evening…. The Metro Atlanta area continues to be well represented on the Georgia roster. 26 UGA players are from Atlanta (out of 42). The Jackets have 10 Atlanta players (out of 32) on their roster…. This was only the second game outside of hometown Atlanta this season for Georgia Tech… Georgia will battle Wake Forest in the SELC Division B semifinals next Saturday afternoon while Georgia Tech will face-off with NC State on Friday night in the SELC Division A Quarterfinal round. Georgia defeated Wake Forest in Winston Salem, NC back on April 5th by 9 goals while Georgia Tech knocked off NC State back in February by 3 goals. Complete SELC tournament information is available on www.SELC.org.
Georgia Tech at Georgia
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Athens, Georgia
Box Score:
Georgia Tech: 0 - 3 - 7 - 3 = 13
Georgia: 0 - 2 - 1 - 0 = 3
Scoring Summary:
Qtr Time of the Goal Team Goal scorer (Assist if applicable): Game Score
Score tied 0-0 at the end of the first quarter
2nd qtr 14:29 GT Sean Dvoran: GT 1-0
2nd qtr 13:59 UGA Peter McCutcheon: Tied 1-1
2nd qtr 4:39 GT Sean Dvoran: GT 2-1
2nd qtr 0:58 UGA Eric Tietz: Tied 2-2
2nd qtr 0:14 GT Bob Jaeger (Bryan Garman): GT 3-2
Georgia Tech leads 3-2 at halftime
3rd qtr 13:11 GT Colin Wallace: GT 4-2
3rd qtr 11:04 GT Sean Dvoran: GT 5-2
3rd qtr 8:53 GT Sean Dvoran (Jim Pallotta): GT 6-2
3rd qtr 8:14 GT Sean Dvoran: GT 7-2
3rd qtr 5:82 GT Bob Jaeger (Sean Dvoran): GT 8-2
3rd qtr 4:08 GT Gary Bridges (Will Oakley): GT 9-2
3rd qtr 0:52 UGA Eric Tietz: GT 9-3
3rd qtr 0:01 GT Bob Jaeger (Sean Dvoran): GT 10-3
Georgia Tech leads 10-3 at the end of the third quarter
4th qtr 11:34 GT Bob Jaeger (Sean Dvoran): GT 11-3
4th qtr 8:02 GT Craig Kronenthal: GT 12-3
4th qtr 6:37 GT Bob Jaeger (Sean Dvoran): GT 13-3
Georgia Tech wins 13-3.
Georgia Tech Scoring:
# 25 Sean Dvoran, 5g, 5a
# 21 Bob Jaeger, 5g
# 3 Gary Bridges, 1g, 1a
# 12 Will Oakley, 1a
# 2 Collin Wallace, 1g
# 5 Craig Kronenthal, 1g
# 27 Jim Pallotta, 1a
# 28 Bryan Garman 1a
Georgia Scoring:
# 6 Eric Tietz, 2g
# 23 Jack Carey, 1g
Ground Balls by quarter:
GT: 9 - 12 - 11 - 8 = 40
UGA: 8 - 11 - 7 - 4 = 30
Face offs Won: GT 11, UGA 5
Shots by quarter:
GT: 4 - 9 - 14 - 8 = 35
UGA: 6 - 5 - 3 - 2 = 14
Goalies:
GT: Andy Babcock 8 saves
UGA: David Knighton 7 saves in 3 quarters of play, Matt Young 3 saves in 1 quarter.
Penalties:
GT: 5 / 5 min
UGA: 4 / 3:30 min
Attendance: 100
Weather - 80 degrees. Overcast w/ sprinkles
Officials: J. Westbrook, A. N. Brown
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Photos are courtesy of Dave Adams.