CROWLEY SCORES FOUR, BULLDOGS CRUISE TO SEASON-OPENING WIN, 14-3, AT ST. JOSEPH’S SATURDAY

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) scored a game-high four goals while sophomore Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) recorded a contest-best five points as the Bryant University men's lacrosse team cruised to a 14-3 season-opening win over St. Joseph's Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

The pair was among 10 Bulldogs (1-0) to score a goal in the team's 2011 debut, as five new faces to the Bryant lineup netted tallies in the winning effort.

Bryant never trailed in the contest and needed just 24 seconds for newcomer and graduate student transfer Trever Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) to collect his first goal donning the Black and Gold and put the Bulldogs on the board for the first time in 2011.

A goal from McMahon – his only of the day as the second-year attacker dished out an impressive four assists for a game-high five points – was answered by St. Joseph's (0-2) in the form of an unassisted Kyle Williams tally to cut the score to 2-1 with nearly six minutes to play in the first period.

But Bryant controlled the rest of the 20+ minutes remaining before the halftime break, rattling off five scores to open up a 7-1 advantage, a run bookended by a pair of unassisted Crowley tallies.

The Hawks broke a combined scoring drought out of the break that lasted nearly 10 minutes with Williams's second and final unaided goal of the afternoon to move the score to 7-2, but sophomore JK Poirier (Coatesville, Pa.) teamed up with Crowley for back-to-back scores just 21 seconds apart to erase the tally, and newcomers Bo Redpath (Norwich, Vt.) and Kevin Sherrill (Charlotte, N.C.) opened the fourth frame with their first-career scores to up Bryant's lead to 11-2.

Williams would assist on a Scott Cullinan goal with 8:42 left to play, but St. Joseph's wouldn't get any more past junior netminder Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.), as the Bulldogs closed out their opener with a trio of unanswered scores from Evan Roberts (West Cornwall, Vt.), Poirier and rookie Brendan Bouchard (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), respectively, for the 14-3 final.

Freshman Matt Bletzer (Medfield, Mass.) scored his first-career tally in his collegiate debut as well, one of four Bulldog rookies to do so Saturday, while returning leading scorer and preseason all-american selection Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) added a goal and an assist for the Black and Gold.

Sipperly was stellar at the X, winning 11-of-16 faceoffs, as the Bulldogs won 14-of-21 on the day. The fifth-year transfer also picked up a game-best six ground balls as Bryant won the battle as a team, 41-22. Love made nine saves between the pipes to kick off his junior season while scooping up a trio of ground balls.

On the day, Bryant outshot its host, 34-19, including a 12-3 margin in the second period. The Bulldogs were strong on the clear, successful 16-of-20 times, but kept St. Joseph's from completing its 15 clearing attempts just once. The Black and Gold scored on all three of their extra-man opportunities in the outing.

The Bulldogs now return to Smithfield, R.I. for their next outing, hosting Fairfield University in the 2011 home opener Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Bryant Turf Complex (1 p.m.).