s UConn Men's Lacrosse: March 2003

Huskies Down Holy Cross

Monday, March 17, 2003

(Worcestor, MA) Uconn avenged their overtime loss of last year by downing the Holy Cross Club Team 11-4, evening up their record at 2-2. Coach Davis was extremely proud of the win. "We played very well. The offense is beginning to learn control and the defense solidified a bit since the Va Tech game. We got a lot of young guys in for some valuable experience tonight. I was especially happy
with the play of Scott Apelgren (Simsbury, CT), who played extended minutes following the early ejection of Pat Higgins. Our two goalies also had solid games. Both Pete King (Bedford, MA) and John Carlin (Fair Lawn, NJ) played well; recording 5 and 7 saves respectively."

However, the Huskies played a far from perfect game. As coach Davis explains, the Huskies struggled on man-up, only going 2 for 6, and also struggled on face offs.

"We did not run our EMO properly. I would like to have about a 70% success rate on man-ups. I don't understand why, but the EMO was not playing as a team. They appeared to expect a shot after only one pass. We luckily did not need these goals, but we must correct the problem before we head into the meat of our season. As for face offs, we only won 7 of 16. We dominated the first quarter 4-1, but after our starting face off middie Jay Knott (Ashland, MA) had to go to the hospital due to a shoulder injury early in the second period, we struggled."

This article originally appeard on USLIA.com

Georgia Tech goalie Andy Babcock (Darlington School; Rome, GA) attempts to clear the ball past UConn attackman Shawn King. (Photo by Dave Adams)
Article and Photos by Dave Adams

Atlanta, GA: Led by an outstanding defensive effort, # 23 Georgia Tech (5-2) defeated the visiting Connecticut Huskies from the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League by 7 goals in Atlanta. For the second game in a row, the Jackets used an explosive 2nd quarter to secure the victory.

In their first contest of the season, UConn played aggressively in the first quarter. The Huskies matched the Yellow Jackets step for step and the game was tied at 3 goals apiece at the end of the 1st stanza.

UConn was tagged with an illegal stick penalty to open the 2nd quarter. The Huskies would kill most of the 3-minute penalty, before yielding 4 consecutive goals. Penalties plagued the UConn in the second period as the Huskies amassed 5 personal fouls. Georgia Tech led 7-3 at the half.

Both teams exchanged two goals apiece in the 3rd quarter. Tech enjoyed a seemingly comfortable 4-goal lead (9-5) at the end of the third. The 4th quarter belonged to the Georgia Tech as the Yellow Jackets piled on 3 additional goals in the final period.

Junior attackman Gary Bridges (Clements HS; Sugar Land, TX) led the scoring for Georgia Tech with 4 points (3 g, 1 a). University of Connecticut’s Brian Young (St. John’s Prep, Beverly, MA) scored two goals to lead the scoring for the Huskies.

Third year UConn Head Coach Tim Davis discussed his team’s effort following the game and he looked forward to the rest of the Spring Break trip down South. “I think our lack of practicing and playing outside started to show in the rest of the game. Our transition game was terrible and our guys had trouble settling the ball. But overall, I thought our guys played well for the first time out on the field this spring. Nick Borden played a great game in the nets for us. He made some big saves."

"We will see some high quality games down here (on this trip). Hopefully playing this high level of competition will help us out in our regular season back home” said Davis.

Georgia Tech Head Coach Ken Lovic noted of his team’s performance. "It was a good effort by the guys today, especially in the second half. UConn came out strong. It was obvious that this was their first game for the year. Our defense did a very solid job again today."

Georgia Tech faces # 8 Colorado next Saturday in Atlanta. UConn travels to Raleigh to face NC State on Tuesday afternoon before heading to Blacksburg to take on # 15 Virginia Tech.

Box Score:
Georgia Tech: 3 - 4 - 2 - 3 = 12
Connecticut: 3 - 0 - 2 - 0 = 5

Scoring Summary:
Qtr Time of the Goal Team Goal Scorer (Assist if applicable): Game score
1st qtr 9:50 GT Bob Jeager (Sean Dvoren): GT 1-0
1st qtr 7:21 UC Brian Young: Tied 1-1
1st qtr 4:09 UC Brendan Frobel (Brant Goulding): UC 2-1
1st qtr 3:08 GT Gary Bridges: Tied 2-2
1st qtr 2:00 GT Bob Jaeger: GT 3-2
1st qtr 1:22 UC Sean Manley: Tied 3-3
Tied 3-3 at the end of the 1st quarter
2nd qtr 9:30 GT Will Oakley (Gary Bridges): GT 4-3
2nd qtr 4:50 GT Gary Bridges: GT 5-3
2nd qtr 3:19 GT Sean Dvoren (Bob Jaeger): GT 6-3
2nd qtr 2:22 GT Collin Wallace: GT 7-3
GT led 7-3 at the half
3rd qtr 14:40 GT Ryan Hansen (Will Oakley): GT 8-3
3rd qtr 10:30 UC Dan Portoff (Jon Dahlquist): GT 8-4
3rd qrt 9:43 GT Ryan Hansen (Will Oakley): GT 9-4
3rd qtr 6:48 UC BrianYoung: GT 9-5
GT led 9-5 at the end of the third quarter
4th qtr 5:04 GT Collin Wallace: GT 10-5
4th qtr 4:44 GT Craig Kronenthal: GT 11-5
4th qtr 1:45 GT Gary Bridges (Jim Pallota): GT 12-5
GT wins 12-5.

Georgia Tech Scoring:
# 3 Gary Bridges, 3g, 1a
# 12 Will Oakley, 2g, 2a
# 31 Ryan Hansen, 2g
# 2 Collin Wallace, 2g
# 21 Bob Jaeger 1g, 1a
# 25 Sean Dvoren 1g, 1a
# 5 Craig Kronenthal, 1g
# 27 Jim Pallota, 1a

Connecticut Scoring:
# 13 Brian Young, 2g
# 3 Brendan Frobel, 1g
# 27 Sean Manley, 1g
# 4 Dan Portoff, 1g
# 18 Brant Goulding, 1a
# 2 John Dahlquist, 1a

Ground Balls by quarter:
GT: 8 - 8 - 10 - 10 = 36
UC: 8 - 1 - 6 - 7 = 22

Shots by quarter:
GT: 7 - 14 - 11 - 8 = 40
UC: 10 - 2 - 5 - 5 = 22

Saves by quarter:
GT: (Andy Babcock) 3 - 0 - 2 - 2 = 7
UC: (Nick Borden) 2 - 5 - 4 - 1 = 12

Penalties:
GT: 5 penalties / 4:30
UC: 9 penalties / 9:30

Attendance: 100
Weather: 65 degrees. Overcast
Officials: S. Thomas, S. Pieper

Spring Break Trip Recap

Wednesday, March 12, 2003

UConn completed their spring break trip, going 1-2 in the south. The Huskies traveled south without ever seeing a field for practice due to the relentless Northeastern weather. In summary, the Huskies were plagued by penalties, a poor transition game, and an undisciplined offense, but got great play from their close defensemen and goalies.

"These are things we need to work on," says Coach Davis. "I am not disappointed in their play at all. I expected us to have these problems, and I am glad we escaped with a victory down there. All of the teams we saw were quality teams. We learned a lot by playing them, and I think this will help us immensely in preparing for our conference schedule. The players and fans should not be saddened from these losses. Even in our losses, the games were close at half time. It was the little things; clears, sloppy sticks, uncontrolled checks, and poor communication which led to our downfall. We will work on these aspects of our game, and will be prepared for the other quality opponents we will face this season."

Virginia Tech 12, UConn 2

Sunday, March 9, 2003

UConn Men's Lacrosse team suffered its second loss of the season to VA Tech in the final game of their trip down south. UConn surprised the Hokies by only giving up three goals in the first half. However, the young Huskies backs were broken as Tech got two chance goals, while the Huskies hit the pipes several times.

The Huskies got their first win of the season after completely dominating North Carolina State in every aspect except for the score. The Huskies controlled the tempo of the game, but once again penalties kept the game close. UConn eventually pulled away and ended up winning 7-5

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