The University of Tennessee Lacrosse team came off of a two and a half week layoff to face the Bulldogs of the University of Georgia. The Friday evening game on March 19th found game time near perfect with a clear sky and temperatures in the low 60s at the Tennessee intramural fields. The Vols felt the injury bug bite big time with the loss of Defenseman Aaron Wise who injured his shoulder in the Florida State win. The Bulldogs struck first with a goal at 13:59 in the first. Vol Attackman Gray Fuller drew first blood for the Big Orange as he evened the game at one a piece at 10:03. Fuller drove up the center and cut left, scoring from three yards out. Georgia scored again before the end of the quarter but the Vols struck early in the 2nd as Jim “Boomer” Blunden scored on a right side bouncer at 13:40. The Vols went ahead for the first time in the game at 9:30 as the Orange blitzed downfield and Chris Bicsak scored on an assist from Laurence Tilley. The Orange lead was short lived as the Bulldogs scored with 2:06 left in the half.
The opening of the second half was characterized by penalties for the Big Orange as the Vols went man down on a slash and offsides on Bicsak @ 11:53 and a push on Ethan Nichol @ 9:18. The Bulldogs scored two goals within 27 seconds at 8:31 and 8:04. The Vols got back into scoring mode at 6:03 with Miller Sylvan scoring from the right side with an assist from Laurence Tilley. A minute later at 5:03 Chris Bicsak contributed another goal with a nice left to right cut. The Vols scored again as Laurence Tilley put one in from the left side at 52.5 left in the third. The fourth quarter saw the Bulldogs score three unanswered goals before the Vols got anything into the net at 2:57 with Chris Bicsak scoring again from the right side. The Bulldogs went ahead for good at 1:08 to end the game at 7-8. In addition to the distress of the loss, the Vols look to lose Boomer Blunden for the immediate future after he left the game with a concussion.
The Vols had a few bright spots particularly the defensive play of Chris Kirk with 12 ground balls adding “winning ground balls is key to controlling time of possession.” Brad Cassacci came up big with 9 faceoffs wins and A.J. Howland contributed with 22 saves. The Vols return to action against the Dawgs of University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point Sunday March 21, 2004.