FSU 7, UCSB 6

The 12th Florida State Seminoles defeated the 6th ranked UCSB Gauchos 7-6 in Tallahassee on Monday night.  Junior goalie Stephen Heiman led the Seminole defense with 16 saves, including one in the final seconds during a UCSB extra-man opportunity.  The win moved the Seminoles to 10-1 on the 2008 season.  The Seminoles started quickly, and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 2:35 on goals from junior attackman Corey Noonan (2 goals, 1 assist) and freshman midfielder Jon Yates (1 goal).  UCSB got onto the scoreboard one minute later when attackman Brendan Sindell scored the first of his three first half goals.  With just over nine minutes to go in the opening quarter, Seminole defenseman Myles Somerville found sophomore attackman Matt Jankowski, whose goal gave the Noles a 3-1 lead.  The Gauchos closed the lead to one on Sindell’s second goal with 2:10 remaining in the opening quarter.  Florida State pushed their lead to 4-2 when junior midfielder Alex Pettit (2 goals) scored an extra-man goal on a feed from Noonan.  UCSB answered with an extra-man goal of their own 1:24 later.   The goal was Sindell’s third of the game, and again brought the Gauchos to within 1 of the Noles.  A goal by Nick Nyeholt (2 goals) tied the game at 4 with 6:02 remaining in the half.  The Seminoles regained the lead with 3:45 to go in the half when freshman defenseman JP Rius assisted on Noonan’s second goal.  The Seminoles would take the 5-4 lead into the half. Pettit scored the second of his two goals 38 seconds into the third quarter, and freshman Tyler Richey connected with 8:53 to go in the quarter on Jankwoski’s second assist.  Richey’s goal gave the Seminoles a 7-4 lead, and it would be the final goal scored by the Seminoles on the night.  Fortunately for the Seminoles, Heiman and the Seminole defense would make the lead stand up.  Heiman made 7 of his 16 saves during the third quarter– a quarter during which the Seminoles held the Gauchos scoreless. Ryan Brent tried to spark a Gaucho comeback with a goal 1:49 into the fourth quarter to close the Seminole lead to 7-5.  With 6:14 remaining, Nyeholt’s blistering outside shot brought the Gauchos to within one goal of the Noles.  With just over three minutes to go, the Seminoles gained possession.  The Seminoles controlled the ball for over two minutes, but the Gauchos regained possession with 0:49 remaining in the game.  A tripping penalty on Florida State with 18 seconds remaining set up a thrilling finish.  The final moments came to a dramatic ending when Heiman deflected a last-second shot with the edge of his stick to preserve a 7-6 Seminole victory. "That was a whole lot of fun," said Seminole Head Coach Bill Harkins, "We were ready to go from the opening whistle, and we were ready to finish at the final whistle."  Heiman echoed Harkins’ statements.  "We played with intensity from start to finish tonight.  UCSB is a really, really good team, and it took a great team effort for us to beat them."  When asked about his 16 saves, Heiman credited his defense.  "Our defense was amazing tonight.  They turned in a great, clutch performance on our end, and they did a great job starting our offense with solid clears.  The attack played a great role defensively, too.  Noonan and the guys rode all over the field, and that really made a difference tonight."  "The whole team stepped up to a huge challenge tonight," said Noonan, "but now we have to forget about it and focus on our next game." For the Seminoles these days, it seems like that next game is always right around the corner.  The Seminoles return to action against Santa Clara on Wednesday before traveling to Baltimore to play #21 Virginia Tech, #14 Boston College, and #23 Northeastern in a thirty-hour period.  GAME STATISTICS Score by Period      1    2    3    4    TOTAL ————————————————- FSU…………………. 3    2    2    0   –    7 UCSB………………. 2    2    0    2   –    6 FSU SCORING: GOALS: Noonan 2, Pettit 2, Richey 1, Jankowski 1, Yates 1. ASSISTS: Jankowski 2, Noonan 1, Somerville 1, Rius 1. UCSB SCORING: GOALS: Sindell 3, Nyeholt 2, Brent 1. ASSISTS: Bailey 1. Saves, Goals Against ———————————— FSU: Heiman 16, 6. UCSB: Almerido 10, 7. Extra Man Opportunities —————————- FSU: 1 for 3 UCSB: 1 for 6 Penalties ———– FSU: 6 for 5:00 UCSB: 3 for 2:30