February 27, 2010

STAGS SET BACK BULLDOGS, 5-3, SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Boxscore / Photo Gallery

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Freshman Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) chipped in a goal and an assist while sophomore Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) added his season-high fifth tally of the season, but the Bryant University men's lacrosse team would still suffer a 5-3 setback to Fairfield University on the road Saturday afternoon, falling to 2-2 on the young season.

After a scoreless first quarter, Fairfield (1-1) would take a 2-0 edge in the final 5:14 of the second session, getting an unassisted goal from Kevin Peters just over two minutes before Ryan Mulford added a man-up tally with 3:08 to play before the halftime break.

But the Bulldogs (2-2) wouldn't go scoreless into the intermission, as sophomore Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) hooked up with rookie JK Poirier (Coatesville, Pa.) for the second-year attackman's fourth goal of the season with just 40 ticks to go, bringing the visiting Bulldogs back within one. Despite the halftime deficit, Bryant outshot the Stags, 17-9, in the first two quarters.

"The problem lies in our inability to put the ball in the goal," said head coach Mike Pressler. "We're young on attack, but we had every opportunity to win that game, and I felt that it was there to be had in the first half. We had them on their heels and only got one goal to show for it. We battled to the end, but your first midfield can't go 1-for-18 and expect to win. That's something that we have to fix and fix quickly."

Out of halftime, Bryant would go on the offensive once more, but this time the goal would come from McMahon, assisted by junior captain Anthony Iannello (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.). The tally just 2:42 into the third would knot the score at 2-2.

But two more quick goals from the Stags in the third session - unassisted scores from Sam Snow and Max Trunz - would drive the game to 4-2 in the home side's favor.

The Bulldogs would get one more in the third frame, when McMahon found Weisenberg with 2:51 to play, to cut Fairfield's lead in half, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Stags added another tally to open the final stanza for the 5-3 final score.

"It was an up and down game, and at the end of it I felt we really kind of panicked and got off our game offensively," said Pressler. "You hold anyone to five goals and win all the faceoffs and you should be in good shape to win. And Jameson had another very good game in goal - it's just our inability to shoot the ball well. We had our chances and just missed those opportunities.

"It's disappointing because we had an opportunity to get this one on a short week [after playing Army on Tuesday], but we just couldn't get it done on the offensive end."

The Bulldogs were tagged for four penalties on the game and went 0-for-2 on their own extra-man opportunities, but outshot the home team, 27-21, on the day. The teams were an even 28-28 in ground balls, while senior captain Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.) was once again strong from the faceoff X, winning 9-of-11 faceoffs in the contest.  Bryant sophomore goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) recorded nine stops in the game while his Fairfield counterpart registered 14.

"Three things have been very consistent in four games this season - Jameson Love in goal, Andrew Hennessey at the faceoff X and our team defense," added Pressler.

Bryant now has an 11-day break before returning to the action on March 10 when the team travels to Bellarmine University (3:30 p.m.).