Four Dunster goals pace Bryant in 15-8 win

Dunster's four goals pace Bryant in 15-8 win over Vermont Saturday at home

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Sophomore midfielder Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) matched his career high, posting a game-best five points off four goals and an assist to pace a Bryant University men's lacrosse side that never trailed Saturday against the University of Vermont, topping the Catamounts, 15-8, at the Bryant Turf Complex.

Dunster was one of five multi-goal scorers for the Bulldogs (2-2) and added a trio of ground balls to his effort while Vermont (0-3) was led by a pair of scores from Geoff Worley, who also chipped in a helper to tie A.J. Masson (1g, 2a) with a team-best three points.

Bryant took hold of the momentum early on, giving itself a three-goal cushion in the opening seven minutes of the first quarter with scores from junior Cody Isdaner (Gladwyne, Pa.), sophomore Dan Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) and Dunster. But it didn't take the Catamounts long to negate the margin, getting goals 48 seconds apart to close out the first session before scoring the tying tally just 42 ticks into the second frame.

The Bulldogs would reassert their lead 75 seconds later, though, on Kyle Crowley (Scituate, Mass.)'s first score of the season and take a 5-3 lead at the 10-minute mark when Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) took a feed from Bryant netminder Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) on the clear and ran straight to goal for the score.

Vermont would close the gap to one once more with 9:15 to go before the halftime break on a Cal Case unassisted goal, but an unaided Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) tally would send the hosts to the locker room with a 6-4 advantage after the first half.

And after being outscored, 7-3, in the third quarter through the first three games of the year, the Bulldogs reversed the trend against the Catamounts, netting six goals to Vermont's one in the 15-minute stretch.

"For us, it was a much-improved second half," said head coach Mike Pressler. "We really responded at halftime. We scored right away, and a 6-1 third quarter is something we've been talking about the entire week, so at the end of the day, I think that was huge for us."

Junior attackman Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) got second-half scoring started less than five minutes into the third frame with an unassisted man-up tally, and Matt Savlov would return the favor two minutes later for a 7-5 score in the Bulldogs' favor. But from there, the Black and Gold offense couldn't be tamed, scoring five straight in an eight-minute span to put the home side on top, 12-5, entering the final quarter.

All five goals came out of the sophomore class, with Dunster having a hand in the first three, bookending his lone assist of the day on an Alex Zomerfeld (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) goal with a pair of tallies for a 10-5 advantage. Zomerfeld would score again with 7:03 to play, prompting a Catamount goalie change, before Sipperly's second tally of the afternoon gave the Bulldogs a 12-5 lead with 13 seconds to go in the stanza.

"Colin remains one of our most consistent players," said Pressler. "He's been a dynamic and impressive offensive player from Day 1 this fall, and to see him shine is really no surprise to us."

And while Vermont scored three times in the final quarter, two of the goals coming early, the Bulldogs didn't let up, matching the Catamounts' effort with scores from Dunster, Weisenberg and McMahon -- the last two assisted by Isdaner -- for the 15-8 final.

"I think one of the key things for us today was the play of our second midfield," Pressler said. "Two of our early goals were scored while they were out there, and Kyle Crowley got one of his own. That was very big for us, to get some balance from the second  midfield and to get some help offensively from some other guys as well."

Saturday's outing was fraught with penalties, as Bryant took eight whistles and Vermont's nine, with both sides scoring a trio of man-up goals in eight opportunities. The sides were about even on shots (42-39 Vermont), ground balls (36-33 Bryant) and caused turnovers (10-9 Vermont), while both teams failed to complete three clears. Bryant rookie faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) picked up a game-high seven ground balls on the afternoon and went 13-of-25 from the X against a pair of Vermont opponents.

Where the Bulldogs did dominate was in the saves category, as Love turned away 17 shots, including six in the second and fourth quarters, outdoing the Catamount tandem who paired up for just eight stops on the day.

"Jameson made 17 saves, and there were a bunch of those he shouldn't have been able to make," said Pressler. "Again, we had some breakdowns defensively, but old No. 35 was there to bail us out."

The Bulldogs remain home for their next contest and will host #18/19 Drexel Saturday, March 10 in search of consecutive wins for the first time on the young 2012 season.