ATLANTA, GA -- Using stellar play in the goal, stifling defense and opportunistic scoring in bunches from multiple players, the Georgia Tech overwhelmed talented teams from Boston College and Liberty this past weekend. The Yellow Jackets raced out to a fast start to record a 18-5 victory over the Eagles on Friday night before exploding in the second half for a 15-7 triumph over the Flames.

Boston College was all about a Fast Start

Sixth-ranked Georgia Tech opened its home slate against No. 12 Boston College in front of home crowd of over 500. The game marked the third consecutive meeting between the two teams with each team winning on the road by a single goal. This game would not reflect that as the Jackets dominated the Eagles 18-5.

The Yellow Jackets used their transition offense off of stops made by senior All-America goalie Matt Sommerfeldt and a stingy defense. Freshman attackman Tim Peterson (Needham, Mass.) scored two first quarter goals and junior defenseman Will Byars (Worthington, Ohio) scored his second career goal in a spectacular end-to-end play, starting with a strip, ground ball, coast to coast dash and laser shot as the Jackets raced out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter.

Georgia Tech bombarded the Eagles defense in the second quarter, pouring in eight goals as the defense -- led by Byars, Sommerfeldt, junior Nic Matarrazo (Springfield, N.J.), senior Danny Coughlin (Altanta) and freshmen Brian Duffy (Andover, Mass.), Jack Topping (Glen Ridge, N.J.) and Andrew Bernardi (Massapequa, N.Y.) repeatedly denied the Boston College offense.

The half-time score was 13-1 in favor of Georgia Tech. The eight Tech goals matches the number of goals Tech scored in the thrilling overtime win over Boston College one year ago. And of the eight goals, six different Jackets scored.

Tech held a huge halftime lead but faced a man-down situation to start the second half. The defense responded by denying the Eagles a chance to close the gap, denying any comeback attempts. The Eagles scored first, but Tech would score the next four goals to close out the quarter. Tech got goals from Danny Radke (Chesterfield, Mo,), Holland Frost (Marietta, Ga.) and Brian Connolly (Warwick, N.Y.) to push Tech's lead to 17-2.

Rookie Jared Gantt (Marietta, Ga.) scored his second goal of the day to cap the scoring for Tech and push to the final score to 18-5. An early season dominating performance.

Jackets Explode in second Half capitalizing on Liberty Mistakes

The Yellow Jackets faced No. 16 Liberty on Sunday and came away with their third straight win to open the season. A second half surge propelled Tech to a 15-7 victory. The Jackets had goals from seven different plaers on the afternoon, led by Peterson's hat trick.

The opening half was a defensive battle. Tech opened the scoring when Junior Sam Ford raced in alone and ripped one past the Liberty goaltender. Liberty would respond to tie it up. At the half, Tech led 2-1 after Connolly got his first of the game. The defense again was stout in the opening half with Sommerfeldt leading the way, stuffing the high-powered Liberty offense. The defense unit as a whole was incredible all game, holding a team that usually averages over ten goals a game to only two goals after three quarters.

The second half was a whole new game for the Jackets. Tech would open up the scoring in the third quarter by netting three goals in less than three minutes. Frost scored two of the three goals. The defense continued to thwart the Flames offense, allowing one goal in the third quarter.

Tech would score another three goals in less than three minutes to close out the quarter and give Tech a decisive 9-2 edge. In the final stanza Tech, score quick getting two goals from Peterson, extending the lead to 11-2 and locking up the game up for the Jackets. Both teams had some success in the final quarter finding the back of the cage, but Tech did not allow Liberty to get any rhythm and kept the game out of reach.

The Jackets face very tough Virginia Tech next Friday night and top GRLC foe Indiana on Sunday.