April 20, 2010

TURNOVERS PLAGUE BULLDOGS, FALL TO HOLY CROSS, 7-6, TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Boxscore

WORCESTER, Mass. – Turnovers would prove costly for the Bryant University men's lacrosse team Tuesday night on the road, as the Bulldogs pulled within one but never gained a lead against Holy Cross, eventually falling, 7-6.

Kenny Minor would record a hat trick to lead the Crusaders (5-9), while sophomore Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) paced the Bulldogs (8-5) with a pair of tallies in the outing.

The home side owned the opening quarter and the Bulldogs couldn't muster much of a fight through the first 15 minutes, as Holy Cross opened up a 4-0 advantage on a quartet of unassisted tallies.

But the Bulldogs would return the favor in second.

Harrington got the Black and Gold on the board with 10:06 to play with an unassisted tally that came after the sophomore sold a fake in front of the net to get Holy Cross goalie Connor Sweeney off balance and open up free territory beyond the goal line.

The Bulldogs would then quickly close the gap to 4-2 on their most impressive score of the evening at the 6:49 mark. An errant pass on a Bryant clearing attempt was saved by a great snag from defenseman Matt Murnane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) at midfield, and the senior sprung the Bulldog offense, hitting rookie Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) with a pass inside the box. McMahon turned to his left and sent a quick pass off to John Truscello (Holbrook, N.Y.), who gave it right back, freeing up McMahon to connect with Harrington across the crease on the right post.

But when a point-blank Harrington shot was saved by Sweeney, freshman Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) picked up the rebound and came out of the scrum to take an immediate shot from close range to score his first career goal and move the score to 4-2.

Just over a minute later, sophomore Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) cut the home side's lead to just one off a feed from linemate Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.), forcing a Holy Cross timeout.

Harrington would even the score with 1:27 left on the second-quarter clock, ripping a shot from the left into side netting to knot the score at 4-4 entering the halftime break.

But the Bulldogs would never go up in the contest, and Minor struck again to open third-period play, connecting for an unassisted goal just 1:07 into the frame as a Bryant penalty expired.

Conor McKenna would score a transition goal, thanks to a strong run from Douglas Broussard after a Weisenberg turnover in the Bryant offensive end, with just over five minutes to play in the stanza to regain a two-goal advantage for the home team, 6-4. But Bryant would try to play catch-up for the remainder of the game.

Junior Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) ripped a curveball as he ran past the goal with 3:37 on the clock to cut the lead back down to one, 6-5, a score that would carry into the final session.

But the Black and Gold couldn't outscore its host in the final 15, as Minor completed his hat trick in the frame's early goings for a 7-5 edge. McMahon would score with 2:30 to play in regulation to cut the score to 7-6, taking a pass from JK Poirier (Coatesville, Pa.) from behind the net, but it wouldn't be enough to make up the deficit.

Both teams fired 29 shots in the outing while the Crusaders picked up 23 ground balls to Bryant's 19. Faceoff specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.) went 10-for-15 from the X while the team went 11-for-16 overall.

Sophomore netminder Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) made eight saves in the contest while Sweeney recorded 10 stops to back the home side. Murnane's four ground balls and two caused turnovers led the Bulldogs defensively.

Bryant returns to action Saturday, April 24 in one of its biggest tests of the season, as the Bulldogs take on No. 11 Yale in a 7 p.m. contest in New Haven, Conn.