No. 19/14 Bulldogs stumble in opener, fall to Colgate at home, 9-5, Saturday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) registered a hat trick and added an assist to lead the No. 19/14 Bryant University men's lacrosse team in Saturday's 2015 season opener, but visiting Colgate saw seven different goal scorers en route to a 9-5 win.

A stifling Colgate (1-0) defense limited the Bulldog (0-1) offense, and the home side never led in the contest. Already leading, 5-4 through the first three frames, the Raiders notched a four-goal fourth quarter to pull away from the Black and Gold in the final 15 minutes.

Peter Donato and Jack Stebbins each picked up a pair of scores in the outing, while Matt Clarkson led the team with three points off a goal and two assists.

"We made a lot of poor decisions at the offensive end, and certainly Colgate had something to do with that," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler.

Stebbins got the scoring started for the Raiders nearly 10 minutes into the contest and Donato made it 2-0 in Colgate's favor before the Bulldogs got on the board with 16 seconds remaining in the first on a man-up goal by Morrell, assisted by sophomore linemate Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.).

Rookie attack Cam Zeigler (Carlsbad, Calif.), assisted by Morrell, evened the game at 2-2 and netted the Bulldogs' second man-up tally of the day with the only score of the second quarter, finding the back of the net with 6:19 left in the half.

"We're a new team at the offensive end on a lot of different levels," said Pressler, "and it was great to see some of those freshmen contribute, as Cam did."

A 3-2 third quarter would also favor Colgate, who received unassisted goals from Clarkson, Cameron Williams and Ryan Walsh, breaking the 2-2 halftime tie to give the visitors the one-goal advantage entering the final stanza. Morrell would notch his second of the day with just under seven to go in the third period off a pass from sophomore midfielder Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.), and James would get on the board himself in unassisted fashion with 1:10 showing on the clock.

But the Raiders would open the fourth with four-straight tallies – goals from Stebbins, Chase Wittich, Anthony Abbadessa and Donato over a 7:45 stretch – to drain the clock down to the 1:44 mark with the visitors out in front, 9-4. Morrell would cap off his hat trick with 63 ticks to play off a feed from rookie Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.), but the deficit was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome, falling by a 9-5 final.

"We're a team in flux in the midfield," said Pressler. "You can't lose the seniors we lost a year ago and replace them immediately, we know that. So for us moving forward, that is an area of concern for this game and for the games that are coming."

Led by nine shots from Clarkson, Colgate outfired the Bulldogs, 33-27, on the day, including 20-15 in the second half. Bryant dominated the ground game, 34-22, with senior faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) picking up 10 ground balls while going 13-of-18 (.722) from the X.

"Kevin was solid today," said Pressler. "There were a couple of key faceoffs I wish he would have been better at, but overall, Kevin had a good game."

The Black and Gold converted both extra-man opportunities on the afternoon, but turned the ball over 21 times to Colgate's 15. Junior goalie Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) made 10 stops despite the loss, while sophomore Brandon Burke turned away 11 on the game.

The Bulldogs will have a week to prepare for their next tilt, as the Black and Gold take to the road to face a Bucknell team currently receiving votes in the USILA Coaches Poll next Saturday, Feb. 14 in Lewisburg, Pa.