Sunday, March 08, 2009

BULLDOGS BATTLE THE MOUNT SUNDAY AFTERNOON, COME OUT ON TOP, 7-6, TO JUMPSTART SPRING BREAK ROAD TRIP

Boxscore

EMMITSBURG, Md. - While a hat trick from senior captain Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) paced the Bryant University men's lacrosse team to a 7-6 win over future NEC rival Mount St. Mary's Sunday afternoon at Waldron Family Stadium, it was a late goal from sophomore Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) with under two minutes to play that would give the Bulldogs the win, jumpstarting a three-game Spring Break road trip with the most contested victory of Bryant's young season.

The game featured six ties and three lead changes, as neither team would take more than a one-goal advantage in the Bulldogs' closest contest of the year. But it would be Larson's unassisted tally with 1:59 to play - a goal that answered a tally from Cody Lehrer that would tie the score at 6-6 with 2:46 left on the clock - that would be the eventual game-winner as the Bulldogs upped their record to 4-2 on the season.

The Bulldogs (4-2) got the scoring started easily and early just 1:56 into the contest when a shot from senior Jim Long (Durham, N.H.) from way outside found net past Mount St. Mary's goalkeeper T.C. DiBartolo for a 1-0 lead.

But off a nearly identical shot on the opposite end, The Mount's Geery Grant knotted the score at 1-1 just over a minute later.

After more than 10 minutes of back-and-forth action, Mount St. Mary's (0-3) took the 2-1 edge when Jonny Lefferts placed home a pass from across the crease from Lehrer after the rookie leveled Bryant sophomore transfer Harrison Tull (Annapolis, Md.) to create the turnover at the top of the Bulldogs' defensive third.

The Bulldogs accounted for the second tie of the young game with 1:33 to play in the opening period when senior Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) dished the ball out to Greer from behind the cage for a low shot and goal, extending Greer's nation's longest points-scored streak to 39 games.

And with 18.3 seconds before the first break, sophomore Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) hit senior Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) with a perfect pass as he ran across the front of the crease for a quick turn and score, the Bulldogs' first and only man-up goal of the game, despite seven opportunities on the day. Bryant would take the 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

But The Mount would make up the difference with 7:55 to play in the second frame, as Jim O'Shea fed Christian Kellett as he came around in front of Bryant goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) for the third draw of the day, 3-3.

Mount St. Mary's saw its second and final lead of the game with 5:19 to play before Hoagland sent the teams into halftime knotted at 4-4, assisted by Greer, with just seven ticks left on the clock. Hoagland's initial shot sailed just a bit outside, but the ground ball found the waiting stick of Greer who tossed it right back to his linemate out in front for the goal.

But the Bulldogs went just 1-for-7 in first-half extra-man opportunities, including going 0-for-5 in the second session, spoiling two of those opportunities on unforced miscues.

"I was very disappointed that we went 1-for-7 on man-up opportunities," said head coach Mike Pressler. "We had a chance to blow the game wide open in second quarter, but we were 0-for-5 on extra-man offense and that was the biggest disappointment for us. We kinda threw the ball away and made some poor decisions, and that really hurt us."

The stalemate continued through much of the third frame, the quarter's only tally coming with 59.6 seconds left when Bryant frosh Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) fed the ball to Greer out in front for Greer's second goal and a 5-4 advantage.

And after another Mount St. Mary's score with 10:14 to play in the final period, Greer completed his third hat trick of the season off a fastbreak dish from Robert Stufano (Garden City, N.Y.) with 7:58 showing on the clock, upping the score to 6-5 in Bryant's favor.

"Zack certainly stepped up on offense today," said Pressler, "but we need some other guys to contribute offensively. He doesn't want it that way [to do all the scoring] and we don't want it that way either. We need some production from other players."

But the goal was a play that began in the defensive third and started with the hustle of defenseman Ryan Mahoney (Port Jefferson, N.Y.), who outworked Mountaineer attackman Jonny Lefferts in the right corner to win a loose ball that Lefferts assumed would roll out of bounds. Mahoney won the ensuing battle for the ground ball, springing Stufano on the transition fast break.

As the game ticked under three minutes and the Bulldogs maintained a one-goal edge, both teams started getting just a bit too anxious. And it was an unforced miscue that The Mount would capitalize on, as Mahoney threw away a clear attempt to turn the ball over to the home team, who would retie the game at 6-6 with just 2:46 left to play.

But the Bulldogs just wouldn't be beaten.

With 1:59 to play, Crowley created a good screen that allowed Larson to make a clean run to the outside and let loose a whip of a shot that found net and gave Bryant what would end up being a 7-6 final score.

"That was quite a battle on the road, and we're certainly pleased we pulled it out in the end and won this game," said Pressler. "We wanted to start Spring Break out on a positive note and we beat a solid Mount St. Mary's team today.

"But we're a work in progress," he continued. "We're still finding ourselves that way and all of our games are going to be close, we hope. Give credit to Mount St. Mary's - it was a battle to the end and we just had the wherewithal to pull it out."

The Bulldogs outshot the Mountaineers, 35-29, on the day, also winning the ground game with a slight 31-30 advantage in ground balls. Bryant was successful on 22-of-26 clear opportunities, denying The Mount on nine of their 28 chances. But turnovers were again a problem in Emmitsburg, as both sides committed 22 miscues.

Faceoff specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.) again stood out at the 'X', winning 12-of-16 opportunities.

But the story of the day may have been the play of both goalies, particularly DiBartolo, who made 13 saves, including turning away a number of point-blank shots. Love, now 4-2 on the season, made a career-high 12 saves, 10 coming in the second half.

"I think their defense starts with their goalie," said Pressler. "I think he's a great player. No. 13 really played great against us today and that's no surprise."

The Bulldogs now head to Baltimore for a Tuesday matchup against No. 14/16 Loyola (Md.) at 3 p.m.

"Loyola is a top-15 team," said Pressler of the upcoming bout. "It's another road game and I look at Loyola very similar to Virginia and Army - it's a big time, quality opponent on their home field.

"We have to continue to improve and do a better job taking care of ourselves," he continued. "We did a better job today than we did against Army, but a very good opponent will take advantage of those unforced errors. And if we continue to not value the ball like we should, then teams like Loyola will capitalize on that. We've just gotta play smarter."