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Kechagias and Sypniewski Lead University of North Carolina Past Georgia Tech 10-8 in National Collegiate Club Consolation Bracket
2011 National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Georgia Institute of Technology goalie Neal Laxpati (Gr., Chicago, Ill.) recorded 11 saves, but it was not enough as Stefanos Kechagias (Gr., Athens, Greece) notched a hat-trick and JP Sypniewski (Sr., Charlotte, N.C.) tacked on a pair of goals to aid the University of North Carolina in picking up a 10-8 victory in the consolation round of the 2011 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
The win places UNC into a match-up with the victor of a second round game between Emory University and No. 10 University of Oregon later this evening at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, November 12 with a spot in the ninth place game on the line. The host Yellow Jackets fall into the 13th-15th place game at 8:40 tomorrow night as their meeting with either Emory or Oregon will decide if they finish in a tied for 13th or 15th place in the final standings.
In a battle of the Southeast Division champion (Georgia Tech) against the Atlantic Division champion (UNC), the Tarheels built an early 2-0 lead in the first period.
Kechagias started the scoring with 5:49 left in the first period before Sypniewski chipped in his first tally of the day at 3:55 to make it 2-0.
Georgia Tech responded as Steven Winton (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) netted a natural goal at 3:45 and a five-meter penalty shot at 3:09 to even the scoreboard at 2-2.
The see-saw action continued as Evan Zinner (Fr., Reading, Pa.) found the cage with 21 seconds left in the first period to give the Yellow Jackets a 3-2 lead prior to Robert Boland (Jr., Reading, Pa.) drilling a five-meter penalty shot with 18 seconds remaining in the first half to tie the game at 3-3 through 14 minutes of play.
Danny Trotier (So., Columbus, Ohio) began the scoring in the second half with a goal at the 4:53 mark of the third period to return the Tarheels to the lead at 4-3, but Georgia Tech returned the favor from the first half as Nicholas Thompson (Jr., Naple, Fla.) found a crease in the UNC defense for a strike.
The back-and-forth continued throughout the remainder of the second and third periods with one team going ahead by one and the other finding a way to register the the equalizer to establish an 8-8 tie through three periods of action.
UNC and Georgia Tech continued to slug it out to start the fourth period with Winton putting Georgia Tech ahead 8-7 with a man-up goal at the 5:44 mark. Again, the equalizer was not far behind as Sypniewski tacked on his third goal of the day with 4:27 to go to set-up a climatic finish.
Facing the potential of overtime, Kechagias and Sypniewski combined to end the contest in regulation as the duo contributed a man-up goal (3:45) and a natural tally (1:01), respectively, for the winning and insurance scores.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| University of North Carolina |
2 | 3 |
2 |
3 |
-- | 10 |
| Georgia Tech University |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
-- | 8 |
Georgia Tech
Goals: Steven Winton (4); Nicholas Thompson; Evan Zinner;
Patrick Slane; Steve Larsen
UNC Goals: JP Sypniewski (3); Stefanos Kechagias (3); Danny Trotier; Robert Boland; Daniel Wilco; Will Hope
Saves: Georgia Tech - Neal Laxpati (11) ; UNC - Steve Sinclair (6)
Exclusions: Georgia Tech - 8 ; UNC - 8
Advantage Opportunities: Georgia Tech - 2-for-8 ; UNC - 2-for-8
Sprints: Georgia Tech - 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) ; UNC - 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd)
Georgia Tech head coach Kasi David
