The stranglehold the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech have had on the “Rumble in the Rink” is no more.
It ended at nine years – and five “Rumble” titles for the Bulldogs, including the last four, and four for the Yellow Jackets – on Jan. 18 when Florida and Florida State scored shootout wins over Georgia and Georgia Tech, respectively.
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Georgia Tech and Florida State players battle in front of Georgia Tech goalie Max Lucas during Friday night's game in the Memorial Health Hockey Classic. Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News (Photo: Richard Burkhart) |
The victories set up a Sunshine State showdown the next night in the championship game of the Memorial Health Hockey Classic, the official name of the “Rumble,” in Savannah, Ga.
Florida State went on to grab the Thrasher Cup, beating the Gators 5-4 in sudden death overtime. It was the Seminoles’ eighth “Rumble in the Rink” appearance, but their first in the tournament finale.
Howie Stoughton, who had notched the winner against Georgia Tech the night before, scored with just three seconds left in the overtime period to beat Florida.
“This is so huge,” FSU coach Gordon Pullar told the Savannah Daily News. “We’ve never won a championship in anything before. To do it here, against this competition, goes beyond our expectations.”
The win over Florida was every bit has tough as the Seminoles’ 4-3 OT win over
Georgia Tech, when FSU rallied from three deficits, including 2-0 after the Jackets’ first two shots of the game, to force the extra session.
Stoughton won the Thrasher Cup for FSU when he converted a pass from Steve Savor, who had scored the Seminoles’ final two goals in regulation to send the game into an extra session. “I knew as soon as I let it go it was going in,” Stoughton told the Daily News.
Florida beat four-time defending Thrasher Cup champion Georgia 7-6 to reach the title game. The Gators, who had not defeated Georgia since the first year of the Memorial Health Hockey Classic, were up 6-4 heading into the third period. Nick Mari scored what turned out to be the winner with 9:19 left to go. It completed a hat trick for him.
In the “Rumble in the Rink” consolation game, Georgia Tech prevailed 3-2 in another overtime finish before a sold-out Savannah Civic Center crowd of 5,536. Center Brian O’Conner won the game for the Jackets with a fluttering shot that somehow got through Georgia goalie Elliott Slane with 36 seconds left.
Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Georgia Tech are club squads that compete in the South Region of the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Division III.
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