Goal Fest!!

The University of South Florida Ice Bulls exploded for 24 goals this past weekend. South Florida beat the Rollins College Tars 10-4 on Friday night in Orlando and then buried the Appalachian State Mountaineers 14-3 in Ellenton on Sunday morning.

The Bulls found the intensity they lacked in early periods the previous weekend, and jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead against Rollins with a goal by Kyle Baran just 1:10 into the first. Drew Dinzik, Jeff Borges and Bobby Stecher also scored first period goals as the Bulls took control, building a 4-0 lead within the first seven minutes of the game.

The Tars battled back scoring twice to close out the first and the Bulls took a 4-2 lead into the first intermission.

That was as close as the Tars would get.

Alex Ford scored the first of his two goals early in the second to stretch USF’s lead to three and the score remained 5-2 through a physical second period.

Rollins’ physical game sometimes crossed the line as they committed a number of cross checking, check from behind and slashing penalties. Two Rollins players were ejected, one for a check from behind and another for kicking. As a result, there were a several scrums as Bull players showed some grit, standing up for teammates.

”We did a nice job getting each others back tonight,” said coach Jay Jodoin.”

The physical nature of the game did not relent in the final period, but the Ice Bulls began to find the back of the net.

Connor Lyons, P.J. Morales and Kyle Haverstrom all buried goals in the third. Stecher and Ford both tallied their second goals of the evening as South Florida pulled away.

The game stretched into the wee hours of the morning, as the teams combined for 21 penalties in the final period alone. The Bulls were happy to get out of Orlando with the win and no major injuries.

”It was a tough and frustrating game to play and coach,” coach Kevin Castine said. “It’s good to get out with the win.”

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Ice Bull players had to roll out of bed early Sunday morning for a 9:30 game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex in Ellenton.

The Mountaineers were clearly outmatched and the Bulls scored 11 goals in the first two periods as they coasted to a 14-3 win.

Jeff Borges led South Florida in scoring, earning his first hat trick as an Ice Bull. He scored his third goal as the buzzer sounded ending the game.

The game was full of Ice Bull firsts.

Danielle Faries made her first start in net and played a solid game.

Adam Kaye scored his first goal as a Bull with a beautiful top shelf shot.

Joe Hollub, who played two solid games on defense over the weekend, scored not only his first goal as an Ice Bull, he also notched his second. Hollub’s first was off a hard shot from the point and he buried his second in the third period when he joined several Bull defenders playing forward.”

Hollub was thrilled to finally score a goal.

”I’ve been waiting for it for a few games,” he said. “It went where I wanted it to go and for once I hit the net.”

Jodoin said it was nice to have a game where he could play some different players and try others at new positions.

“Hopefully this will build some confidence for some guys that don’t get out there as much,” he said.

USF will look to build on the momentum from the wins as they prepare for two tough games against Florida Gulf Coast next weekend.

Michael Maharrey