Shorthanded Seminoles Win in Jacksonville

Florida State traveled to Jacksonville to face the Ospreys of University of North Florida. Not much was known about the team as UNF joined the SIRC this year, but the Seminoles were quick to learn that they were facing a physical side. The Noles jumped out to a quick start, with 8 man Bradley Atkinson scoring his first of three tries off of a spectacular off-load from lock Joe De Genaro. However, UNF answered right back to even the score at 7. Alex Moya, a sophomore who earned the first start of his career dotted down an answering try. UNF punished FSU in the rucks however, constantly counter rucking and making possession hard to come by for the Noles. With a halftime score of 19-14, Coach Michael Gomez had quite a bit to say to the team. "I am not one to yell or lose my cool during a match, it's not what a coach is supposed to do, but the team that was out there was not the team that I have seen at training nor in previous matches this season and I think the players needed to be reminded of that. So sure enough I did what I thought was best to light the fire." The Seminoles appeared a bit rejuvenated at the onset of the second half, getting to rucks quicker and playing with more physicality, resulting in Brad Atkinson's hat trick try less than five minutes in. The Ospreys answered back once more with another converted try, however that would be their last of the match. Stout defense and hard running had the Noles retaining possession for the majority of the second half, playing deep in UNF territory. Peter Kim took a pick and go off of a ruck to put the Seminoles up by ten with his second try of the season. Scrum half Alex Ruiz snagged the first try of his career with five minutes to go to give FSU a 38-21 lead. "We had a slow start, but the guys played with heart. They definitely showed their mental toughness as most guys had to go all 80 minutes" said assistant coach Alex Bluteau. The win bumps the Seminoles up to 10 points in competition, keeping them in the running for the top spot of the division. Florida State gets set to host the University of Central Florida, a formidable opponent, on Saturday, November 12th. The emerging side is set to kick off at 2 PM followed by the First XV.

 

Tries:

Brad Atkinson (3)

Peter Kim

Alex Moya 

Alex Ruiz

 

Conversions:

Alex Ruiz 4/6