April 24, 2010

BRYANT LACROSSE EARNS PROGRAM'S FIRST-EVER WIN OVER NATIONALLY RANKED OPPONENT, TOPPLE NO. 11 YALE, 9-7, ON THE ROAD SATURDAY

Boxscore 

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Sophomore goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) made four saves in the final period and leading scorer Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) recorded his sixth hat trick of season to lead the Bryant University men's lacrosse team to a 9-7 road win over No. 11 Yale Saturday night, marking the program's first-ever victory over a nationally ranked opponent.

It didn't take head coach Mike Pressler long to see that his Bulldogs (9-5) had responded to a disappointing loss to unranked Holy Cross earlier in the week, as Bryant came out strong and never trailed in the affair, opening up an 8-3 advantage on the home Bulldogs (9-3) early in the third frame.

“It was certainly one of our biggest, if not the biggest win of the 2010 season, and to do it on the road was even more rewarding,” said Pressler. “We called our guys out all week to answer the challenge physically, and every player, to the man, played as hard as he possibly could tonight.”

Bryant got the attention of the home team and the home crowd just 13 seconds into Saturday's contest, earning a 1-0 edge after Weisenberg picked up the ground ball off an opening faceoff win by Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.) – one of 12 on the night for the senior captain – and streaked down the left side of the field to fire a wide-angle shot that eluded Yale goalie Johnathan Falcone.

Yale evened the score nearly five minutes later, and while it took much of the remainder of the first frame, junior Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) put his Bulldogs back on top, 2-1, with a man-up tally with 2:26 left on the clock.

Matt Gibson responded for the Blue and White, re-knotting the score just 26 seconds later.

But Bryant would take the lead for good with just 16 ticks to go in the opening stanza, as Weisenberg recorded the first of back-to-back scores in unassisted fashion, turning inside on his defender to get just enough space to let off a low shot that found net for a 3-2 edge.

The sophomore would sink low and release a rising shot just over a minute into the second session to complete his hat trick and give Bryant a two-goal lead, a tally that would jumpstart a three-goal quarter and allow the visitors to take a 6-3 advantage into the halftime break.

Standout rookie Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) picked up a big ground ball after making a key block off the faceoff and carried it to goal, passing the ball off to sophomore attacker Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) for Bryant's fifth score of the game just 18 seconds after Weisenberg's goal. And while Matt Fuchs would score to make it 5-3, a Crowley score after a long feed from freshman JK Poirier (Coatesville, Pa.) would move the score to 6-3 and mark the final goal of the first half with 4:33 on the clock.

“It was critical for us to maintain momentum out of halftime,” said Pressler, “and a key part of the game for us was that we came out to get the next two to make it 8-3.”

It was more strong play from Poli earned Bryant the first score out of the break, and despite the home side's best efforts, the rookie would not be thwarted. Four minutes into the period, Poli forced a turnover in Bryant's defensive third, allowing teammate Greg Lehane (Southlake, Texas) to pick up the loose ball and travel downfield, passing it off to Weisenberg.

With pressure on him, Weisenberg would find Poli in stride as he ran in toward the crease, and in one swift motion, the frosh recorded his second goal in as many games to put the Bulldogs up, 7-3.

“The rise of Mason Poli from beginning of the season till now is just incredible,” said Pressler. “We don't have a pole or a freshman on our team who is playing with more confidence than Mason. He's great on the ground, he's a great transition player – we couldn't be happier with Mason's play.”

Junior middie Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) would give his side the largest lead of the day 3:30 later, scoring the eventual game winner after he picked up a loose ball in the lane and took an immediate shot to move the score to 8-3.

But from there, Yale would make its move, scoring the next two goals – the first with eight seconds to play in the third and another with 11:18 remaining in the game – closing the gap to just three.

And while the home side would outscore the visiting Bulldogs, 3-1, in the fourth frame – Bryant's only goal came at the 9:09 mark off the stick of Larson – it wouldn't be enough to keep 11^th-ranked Yale from taking its third loss of the season, snapping a five-game winning streak in the process.

“This was our last chance of the season to beat a ranked team,” said Pressler, “and to do that on the road and guarantee ourselves a winning season – that was an important goal for us – it gives us positive momentum going into the last three games.”

The Black and Gold went 2-for-2 on extra-man opportunities in the contest, holding the home team to just one goal in four man-up attempts. Bryant forced a quartet of turnovers and Yale would have 13 in the game.

“We won the special teams battle,” said Pressler. “You look at what the defense did today – this team [Yale] scored 14 goals versus Brown and 16 against Penn – and Jameson [Love] and the guys in front of him held them to seven.”

Love made eight saves in the contest, half of them in the final period, to four from Falcone. Bryant went 15-for-17 on clear attempts while Hennessey owned the faceoff X, winning 12-of-19 on the evening.

“Andrew is doing it all on one leg,” said Pressler. “You talk about a warrior – his performance has been miraculous. He shows up on game day and does his thing. He certainly won a bunch of the ones we needed him to and he won them when we needed it the most.”

Weisenberg and Hennessey led the team with four ground balls each, while junior captain Anthony Iannello (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) forced a pair of Yale turnovers.

“We've been hurting in the last two games,” said Pressler. “We did not play well against Sacred Heart offensively, we did not play well at all against Holy Cross offensively, and we had to find a way to turn that around. We made some subtle changes in what we do, and the first midfield showed up today, they were terrific.”

Bryant returns home to host another Ivy League opponent in Dartmouth College at Bulldog Stadium on Tuesday, April 27 at 4 p.m.