The Florida State Men’s Lacrosse team rallied from a 5-2 deficit to earn an 8-5 win over Michigan State to win the 2010 Southern Shootout on Sunday. The win moved the Seminoles to 6-0 (2-0 SELC) on the season, and gave Head Coach Bill Harkins his 100th win at Florida State.
Florida State and Michigan State reached Sunday’s game with two wins in the tournament. The Seminoles beat Boston College 14-9 on Friday, and Georgia 12-4 on Saturday. The Spartans beat Georgia 18-4 on Friday, and Boston College 12-10 on Saturday. This marked the first time in the history of the Southern Shootout that a pair of 2-0 teams played on the final day of the tournament.
Against Michigan State, the Seminoles took a 2-1 first quarter lead on goals from Josh Eustice and Matt Dumbleton, but the Spartans scored 4 goals in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter to take a 5-2 lead. Seminole captain Jon Yates brought the Seminoles to 5-3 heading into the half. The Seminoles took the lead on third quarter goals from Tom Byrne, Garrett German, and captain Robert Lee. Eustice and Byrne tallied their second goals in the fourth quarter to secure an 8-5 come-from-behind victory for Florida State.
The Seminole defense held the Spartans scoreless for the final 40:11 of the game. Goalie John Goodrich had 19 saves for the Seminoles, and was helped by sound play by 2010 Southern Shootout Defensive Most Valuable Player Rolly O’Meilia. Harkins earned his 100th victory just six games into his seventh season at Florida State, which makes him the fastest coach to reach 100 victories in MCLA history. His career record of 100-28 gives him a winning percentage of 0.781 as Seminole Head Coach.
Stay tuned to FSULacrosse.com during the coming week for more on the Southern Shootout and Coach Harkins’ 100th victory.
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Complete Scores from 2010 Southern Shootout
Friday
Michigan State 18, Georgia 4
Florida State 14, Boston College 9
Saturday
Florida State 12, Georgia 4
Michigan State 12, Boston College 10
Sunday
Boston College 16, Georgia 2
Florida State 8, Michigan State 5
Offensive Most Valuable Player: Patrick Nemes, Michigan State
Defensive Most Valuable Player: Rolly O’Meilia, Florida State
The Florida State lacrosse team won three straight games in Atlanta, Ga. over the weekend to win the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference Tournament title. The Tribe (16-2, 12-2 SELC) defeated Georgia 15-11 Friday, and then took down No. 23 Auburn 13-8 Saturday.
FSU was then able to win a 16-3 game against No. 14 Virginia Tech to take the SELC Tournament title.
The ’Noles finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association poll, but had lost their last two games entering the SELC Tournament.
Those two losses may have been what the team needed to get their minds back on track for the postseason.
“We just started to play like Florida State lacrosse again,” FSU assistant coach Matt Waesche said. “It had been a while since we had played our brand of ball, and it was good to see us get back to that — lots of crisp passes and cutting to the net all weekend and lots of fight for all four quarters.”
FSU had already beaten Georgia (6-9, 4-5 SELC) 13-7 earlier this season as part of the Southern Shootout Tournament. Georgia did defeat the Seminoles twice last season — once in Tallahassee and once in the SELC Tournament — so Florida State players felt like they owed the Bulldogs a little bit of a payback.
“Beating Georgia is big for us,” FSU midfielder Jake Hornstein said earlier this season. “They’ve beaten us the last couple times we’ve played them, and they were actually better than we were last year.”
Game two for the ’Noles was against the top-seeded Auburn Tigers (10-1, 6-1 SELC). Auburn scored the first three goals of the game, but FSU players did not panic.
“We didn’t have to fire the guys up, but really just settle everyone down,” Waesche said. “We had to get their focus back on what we wanted to do and not get too crazy out there. It was just a good team win.”
Attacker Tyler Richey poured in two goals and dished out two assists in the contest, while midfielder Jon Yates had a team-high three goals.
Senior midfielder Alex Pettit had both a goal and an assist, but contributed more than his stats showed.
“(Pettit) really was the player of the game because he had a ton of gritty groundballs,” Waesche said. “He hurt his shoulder on Friday night, and we all thought he wasn’t going to be able to play Saturday.
“But he fought through it and was all over the field, going for every groundball, and scored a tremendous goal by going through three guys. He wouldn’t be denied, and nothing was going to keep him off the field.”
Pettit missed several games over the last six weeks with a shoulder injury and had not scored a goal since the team’s game against Miami March 7.
“I’ve really worked to try and get back to help the team,” Pettit said before the tournament. “I’ve been playing here for four years now, and I want it to be the best ever for FSU lacrosse.”
The championship game matched up the Tribe with arguably their biggest rival in the SELC the last few years. Virginia Tech (14-3, 10-1 SELC) handed the ’Noles their first loss of the season, so the win not only avenged that loss, but also ensured the Seminoles a trip to the MCLA National Tournament. FSU never trailed in the game en route to the tournament crown.
Goalie John Goodrich and attacker Corey Noonan were named Defensive and Offensive Players of the Tournament, respectively.
The 16-team MCLA National Tournament begins May 12 in Denver, Colo., and concludes with the championship game on May 16.
Kyle Lojacono is a Staff Writer for the FSView and Florida Flambeau. The FSView and Florida Flambeau is the independent student newspaper for Florida State University. The paper is distributed twice per week, and is also available online at http://www.fsunews.com
The Florida State Men’s Lacrosse team will resume their 2009 season on May 12 in Denver, Colorado at the MCLA National Championship. The Seminoles earned an automatic bid to this year’s National Championship by winning the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference. More information on Florida State Lacrosse is available at www.fsulacrosse.com
Underclassmen Bolstering Seminole Attack
Mar. 19 2009
Chase Cornell
The Florida State Men’s Lacrosse team reached the half way point of their 2009 campaign with a 27-10 victory over the Miami Hurricanes on March 7. The win came a night after FSU beat the University of South Florida Bulls 25-5 in Tampa. Coach Bill Harkins and his red-hot Seminoles are off to a perfect 9-0 start and a #6 ranking in the CollegeLAX.us Prodigy Top 25 Poll. The offense has been making short work of opposing defenses while enjoying high productivity from upperclassmen in the midfield and attack. However, new additions to the Seminole roster have contributed to the team’s immaculate record.
Numbers don’t lie: the Seminole attack dropped an astounding 52 goals in their last two games. At the front of the action was senior captain, Corey Noonan. The veteran short stick has been the focal point of the Seminole offense. Noonan tallied 5 goals and 3 assists against USF and 8 goals and 2 assists against the University of Miami. He will undoubtedly have the ball running through his stick in weeks to come, but the Seminoles are enjoying increased productivity from some of the team’s younger offensive players.
Upstart freshman attackman Taylor Roop has tallied 17 goals and added 9 assists so far in his first season for the Seminoles. Sophomore attackman Tom Byrne is a new face on the Seminole roster and has contributed 9 goals and 10 assists in his first season with the team. Returning starting sophomore attackman Tyler Richey is playing with a high level of confidence and has sniped 19 goals and 8 assists through 9 games. When asked how he and the other under classmen were able to become so comfortable in the Seminole offense, Richey said, “It took some time for the returning players and the new guys to really start working well together, but I think the combination of repetition and scrimmaging during practice has brought us together as a unit.”
Florida State coaches aren’t relying solely on the attack to provide all the offense. Sophomore midfielder Jon Yates has been devouring opposing defenses with 22 goals and 7 assists. “Jon has the skills to become a very special player for us,” said FSU Defensive Coordinator Matt Waesche, “He’s a very good offensive and defensive player. He made a big impact for us on the second midfield last year, and he’s having a good season so far this year with the first midfield, but there really is no ceiling on what he can do for this lacrosse team.”
The Seminoles will be missing the outstanding play of freshman midfielder Sean Neary who suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Hurricanes. On the loss of his talented midfielder Waesche said, “Sean has done a great job for us this year, and I’m really disappointed that his season is going to be cut short. Thankfully, he’s going to be able to have his knee repaired by the doctor who works with the FSU football team, and knowing how hard Sean works, I’m sure he’ll make a complete recovery.” Neary had contributed 7 goals and 3 assists in his first season with the team.
Saturday night, the Seminoles are back in action as they travel to Orlando to take on the UCF Golden Knights. Look for consistency and leadership from Seminole upper-classmen to anchor the team as the younger members continue to contribute and mature.
The Florida State Seminoles are 9-0 on the 2009 season, and are currently ranked 6th in the nation in the CollegeLAX.us Prodigy Top 25 Poll. Their next game is this Saturday, March 21 at 8 p.m. in Orlando, Florida. For more information on Florida State Lacrosse, please visit www.fsulacrosse.com
