April 17, 2010

HARRINGTON HAT TRICK GUIDES BULLDOGS TO 9-4 TOPPING OF SACRED HEART SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Boxscore

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) scored a trio of goals, including the eventual game winner, and added two assists to lead the Bryant University men's lacrosse team to a 9-4 victory over future Northeast Conference opponent Sacred Heart Saturday afternoon at the Bryant Turf Complex.

Harrington's five points were a game high and paced six different Bulldog scorers on the day, as rookie JK Poirier (Coatesville, Pa.) added a pair of goals and chipped in one helper and sophomore leading scorer Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) recorded a three-point day with a goal and two assists to complete a trio of multi-point scorers for the home team.

In a game fraught with penalties – nine in total – the Bulldogs (8-4) never trailed, opening up a 4-1 halftime advantage and a 6-1 edge early in the third quarter to keep the Pioneers (3-8) from ever threatening to make up the difference.

Bryant scored all nine goals in groups of three, and a pair of freshmen got the scoring started deep in the first stanza after the teams played to a scoreless draw for nearly 10 minutes after the opening whistle.

A pass rocketed across the Sacred Heart crease from Harrington found Poirier open just outside the right post, and the rookie attackman collected the pass for a one-timer and the first score of the game with 6:04 to play in the quarter.

Classmate and linemate Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) doubled that lead off the next faceoff, one of nine won by senior captain Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.), when Weisenberg picked up the ground ball and came flying in on goal down the right side. With McMahon waiting at the edge of the crease, Weisenberg hit the rookie on the left post. With no one but the Sacred Heart goalie to beat, McMahon easily found space beyond netminder Tom Trgo for a 2-0 lead just 11 seconds after Poirier's opening score.

A man-up goal from junior Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) followed with 1:25 to play in the first frame to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 edge after the first 15 minutes of play.

But 3:31 into the second period, a fluky goal that hit off a Bryant defender and ricocheted in got the Pioneers on the board, 3-1, and it would take much of the quarter before the Bulldogs would get the score back, something Weisenberg finally did with 3:27 to go before the halftime break. Bryant took the 4-1 lead into intermission.

“When you are up, 3-0, in first quarter, you have an opportunity to put a team away,” said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. “We chose not to do that. We were only up, 4-1, at the half, and that's still a game. And it wasn't so much what they were doing as it was our inability to play and scheme the way we practice.

“We had so many careless turnovers in the offensive end today, careless turnovers for no reason,” he continued. “And those careless turnovers are unacceptable. I refuse to accept them, and I made it very clear at halftime how I felt about that.”

The Bulldogs got back on the board quickly in the third with a pair of Harrington goals scored less than two minutes apart for a 6-1 advantage, the first of which would go down as the eventual game winner for the Black and Gold.

That game winner, scored at the 12:43 mark, came off a great passing sequence from McMahon to Weisenberg and finally to Harrington at the edge of the crease, where the sophomore put a quick move on Trgo to open up real estate high up in the cage. Harrington scored again 1:54 later when he converted on a big rebound let up by the Sacred Heart defense after a save on McMahon's initial shot.

The Pioneers would make a push late in the third, scoring back-to-back goals in the final three minutes to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 6-3, but Bryant would outscore the visitors, 3-1, in the closing session for the 9-4 final.

“It was good to see Travis have a multiple-goal game,” Pressler said. “I think that was a great confidence booster for him.”

Bryant got tallies from Poirier, Harrington and junior Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) in the fourth quarter and saw freshman Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) record his first career point in the outing, an assist on Poirier's final tally with 13:25 left to play in the game.

The Bulldogs outshot the Pioneers, 27-22, in the affair and nearly doubled their opponents ground ball count, 38-20. Hennessey won 9-of-16 at the faceoff X while both teams scored a pair of man-up goals in the contest.

“Andrew Hennessey is such a warrior,” said Pressler. “But we were very very careless in the offensive end. We didn't value the ball and we didn't do the things we like to do, and we took a step backwards offensively.”

Sophomore netminder Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) made six stops for the Black and Gold to earn the win, while Trgo recorded eight saves on 27 shots faced (17 on goal).

Junior Joe Rauchut (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked up a career-high five ground balls on the afternoon to tie a game best, while he and linemate Matt Murnane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) each caused a trio of Pioneer turnovers.

“It was very exciting to get our defense back on track, only giving up four goals in four quarters,” said Pressler. “The defense was back on their game, knocking balls down and causing turnovers, Jameson made saves when he had to, and it never felt like they were going to threaten us.”

The Bulldogs return to the road for their next two outings and will take on Holy Cross Tuesday, April 20 in Worcester, Mass. at 7 p.m. before heading to Yale for a 7 p.m. Saturday matchup.