Towson Withstands Late Charge

When looking at the schedule the meeting between #6 ranked Towson University and the #4 ranked University of South Florida stands out immediately as one to watch.  Both the Tigers and Bulls have consistently proven themselves to be at the top of their respective regions and both have also enjoyed success in national events. 

 

Thursday morning both teams came out ready to battle, giving everyone in attendance a fast-paced, physical contest.  Despite taking a 4-1 lead heading into the third period, the Tigers hung on by their claws when South Florida scored three goals in the third only to fall by a final score of 5-4.

 

Jim Tamburino (2 goals) opened the scoring for Towson on the power play 3:18 into the first period when he wristed the puck past Tommy Moon low to the far post.  South Florida evened the score with 0:39 remaining in the period when a quick shot from the right wing boards beat a startled Mike Burke. 

 

Towson pulled away in the second period scoring three goals to open up a large lead heading into the third period.  Gene Gsell (2 goals) was the first to strike when he deked around two defenders to open a little space before making a behind the back pass to the front of the net which deflected off a South Florida stick and past Moon.  Tamburino scored the third goal for Towson on a 3 on 2 rush firing a slap shot from the far right wing boards off the left post and in and Gsell scored the third goal of the period when he pulled a bouncing puck out of the air and broke in on the USF net on a 2 on 1 rush using a series of head fakes to get the goalie down and finishing high over his glove. 

 

South Florida got off to an early start in the third taking advantage of a turnover deep in the Towson end when Mike Sanders picked up the loose puck and found a streaking Jeremy Kaufman for a slap shot from the high slot that was deflected between Burke?s pads reducing the Bulls deficit to two goals. 

 

John Deise put the Tigers back up by three at the 2:45 mark of the third when he broke in on a 3 on 2 rush firing a wrist shot along the surface and through the legs of Moon for a 5-2 lead. 

 

But South Florida was not deterred by a three goal deficit redoubling their efforts leading to a goal from Kyle Wolf with 6:14 third period when Wolf broke in on the Tigers net using a double move before beating Burke low to the stick side bringing the score to 5-3. 

 

The Bulls continued pressure produced more scoring opportunities for South Florida and with Deise off for interference the Bulls pulled within a goal when Sanders one-timed a pass from the right face-off circle past an outstretched Burke. 

 

South Florida continued to create scoring opportunities, but their attack was stalled when Wolf picked up a roughing minor with 3:00 remaining in the game.  The Bulls were able to kill off the opportunity and refocus their attack generating six shots in the final 1:15, but the Bulls were unable to tie the game up falling by a 5-4 score.