Bulldogs drop overtime heartbreaker to Hawks, 10-9, in Philly

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team grabbed a 9-8 lead with just over 1:30 to play in the fourth period, but St. Joseph's found the equalizer with 10 seconds remaining, and netted the game-winner in OT to take Saturday's back-and-forth Northeast Conference battle in Philadelphia. 

"Overall just really disappointed at the end result, up one goal with under a minute to play, and a bang-bang play at the end that forced overtime," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "But we had a couple of incredible individual performances from Kenny Massa at the faceoff and Gunnar Waldt who stole a couple goals away from their guys in what is a tough loss against the team to beat right now in the NEC."

The Bulldogs (7-4, 2-1 NEC) were paced by three points apiece from senior attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) and junior mid Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) on two goals and an assist each. Juniors Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) and Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) registered two goals and a score and an assist, respectively. Sophomore midfielders Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) each netted a goal in the loss. Senior netminder Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) was terrific in a losing effort, making 11 saves.

Reigning NEC Player of the Year Mike Rastivo continued to lead the Hawks (9-3, 4-0) with a contest best six points, all being goals. Chris Blewitt and Kevin Forster caged one and handed out one helper each and Kyle Cain had two assists in the win. T.J. Jones was just as sensational between the pipes for St. Joe's, making 14 saves, including seven in the second quarter.

Kennedy got the Bulldogs on the board just 30 seconds into the game on a man-up opportunity following a push 11 seconds into the game. It sparked a 3-0 run to begin the first four minutes of the contest. Rastivo got the Hawks on the board at the eight minute mark of the first quarter, but Morrell answered two minutes later to give Bryant a 4-1 lead after one.

"On the road against arguably the best team in the conference, you could not have asked for a better start," said Pressler. "We could have easily made it a six goal lead, but credit them for battling back and not allowing us to pull away."

Waldt made six saves in the first, and sophomore specialist Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) was outstanding at the X, winning nine of the 11 opportunities in the first half. But despite the dominance at the X, the hosts bounced right back in the second frame thanks to outstanding team defense.

"Kenny Massa was outstanding and dominated the faceoff and forced their number one guy to go to the bench, which was great to see," said Pressler.

Jones made seven stops in the second, and the Hawks were able to outscore the Bulldogs, 3-1, with the last two goals coming out of Rastivo's stick, making it 5-4 at the half. St. Joseph's scored two quick goals in the first 1:33 of the third period to grab its first lead, 6-5.

"I think for us we were disappointed with our turnovers offensively," said Pressler. "There were just routine plays that we didn't make and poor shot selection that ended up going the other way. We let the game get away from us after the first with carelessness on offense."

Of the 40 shots that Jones faced, only 21 were on target, and the Bulldogs turned the ball over nine times in the first half, and 19 for the game. But the Bulldogs battled back and overcame the sloppy play, as James fired in the equalizer at the 11:16 mark of the third and Sharpe put his team back on top with a winder from 15 yards out into the upper left of the cage to make it 7-6 heading into the fourth.

Rastivo responded for the Hawks with the first two goals of the final stanza to retake the lead, 8-7, with 5:52 remaining. Bryant would not go down quietly even with the home side grabbing most of the momentum. Sharpe knotted things up once more at the 3:23 mark, and the Bulldogs would grab one more lead before it was all said and done.

"We talked about it all week that it was going to be a close game," said Pressler. "It always has been against these guys, and we knew that it was going to go down to the wire with either side having a chance to win."

A great pass inside was sent to Rastivo who was at the doorstop, but a point-blank shot from the left side was snared by a diving Waldt, who lifted his stick up high. Waldt fired the ball up field and Cornell was able to give Bryant a 9-8 lead with 2:10 to play, momentarily silencing the home fans.

"It's Gunnar Waldt and that's who he is," said Pressler. "Not only does he make those spectacular saves, he catches them and allows us to work quickly in transition. We've come accustomed to seeing that over the years from him, and today was just another example of his talents."

The Bulldogs were able to attain possession up one with just under 1:30 to play. The shot clock was turned on with 59 seconds remaining, and junior attack Brett Baker (Ridgefield, Conn.) got a shot off from five feet in front of the net with 41 ticks to go, but Jones made a tremendous stop to give the ball back to the Hawks.

Working from left to right, Cain sent a pass across the middle of his attacking third that was tipped off a Bulldog stick directly into the netting of Rastivo's pole, and the junior attackman buried the equalizer with 10 seconds to play.

"That was a great play on both ends that we just missed," said Pressler. "You can't look back on that save, Brett Baker got a great look and if the ball goes in, we're up two with under 40 seconds. It didn't, and it went back the other way and a tipped pass ends up in the stick of their best player."

Both sides turned the ball over to start the overtime, giving the Hawks possession with just over three minutes on the clock. After nearly turning the ball over once more, the hosts were able to pick up a ground ball that was on the turf for nearly 10 seconds, setting up an offensive push with 2:10 to go in the OT. Cain sent a pass to Blewitt on the left side, and Blewitt made one step into the middle and ripped a shot into the upper left corner of the cage, giving the hosts the hard-fought victory.

"They made the play in OT on the ground ball and all the credit goes to them for battling all afternoon," said Pressler. "It was a grind that could have gone either way, and at the end of the day, they made the necessary plays towards the end."  

The Bulldogs three-game win streak comes to a halt, as the Hawks extend theirs to six in a row. But Bryant gets right back after it, and returns home for the makeup game against Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.

"Because of our illness a month ago, we get right back at it with the final three games in nine days and there's just no rest for the weary," said Pressler. "We need to regroup and not feel sorry for ourselves and frankly don't have time to, which is a good thing as we prepare for another NEC rival in Mount this coming Tuesday."