Bulldogs held in check against rival Dragons, 14-5, Saturday afternoon in Smithfield

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team struggled to generate consistent offense and hold onto the ball during critical possessions in Saturday's 14-5 home loss to Drexel University.

The Bulldogs (4-3) had a balanced offense with five different goal scorers, but each only netted one in what was a difficult afternoon. The Dragons (2-4) were paced by a hat trick from Cole Shafer, as Marshal King and Jacob O'Donnell tallied three points apiece (2g, 1a). In total, eight Drexel players registered goals and six recorded helpers. Senior netminder Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) faced over 30 shots and turned away 11, while Jimmy Joe Granito made nine saves in net for the Dragons.

Drexel opened the game with five-straight goals from five different players to start the contest, and great team defense allowed it to hold Bryant scoreless for most of the first quarter. After a Waldt snare, junior midfielder Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) got the Bulldogs on the board in transition with 32 seconds to go in the stanza, burying a strike into the left of the net. The Dragons committed a violation at the X and Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) caged his first goal of the season just 10 seconds later following the restart to make it 5-2 heading into the second quarter.

But the Dragons responded with the first three goals in the second frame, capped off by O'Donnell's second score on a bounce shot that went through the legs of Waldt. Sophomore mid Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) flicked in a shot from point-blank range after a pass from Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) from behind the cage to make it 8-3 heading into halftime. 

The Bulldogs went down by as many as seven in the third after Shafer's second score with 1:43 to play in the quarter. Junior attack Brett Baker (Ridgefield, Conn.) ripped a winder into the lower left corner of the cage with 49 seconds to go in the frame, and sophomore specialist Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) did his job on the ensuing faceoff and took it all the way for his second goal of the season to make it 10-5 at the end of three periods.

A delayed penalty at the end of the third stanza gave the Bulldogs possession to start the fourth, but they were unable to convert on the man-up opportunity, and were unable to get any closer from that point. Drexel held Bryant scoreless in the final frame, and tacked on four goals in a six-minute stretch to pull away and cruise to the 14-5 victory.

The Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers, 12 of which were uncaused errors. The Dragons outshot the hosts, 38-25, as both sides converted 50 percent of their faceoffs (11-22).

The Black and Gold will put this game behind them when they travel to Loudonville, N.Y., for a matchup with Siena on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.