Forsberg leads Bulldogs to 13-5 win over Robert Morris on Senior Day

SMITHFIELD, RI – Senior Tom Forsberg (Huntington, NY) scored a career-high five goals while classmate Tucker James (Essex Fells, NJ) added a pair of goals to go with four assists to help lead the Bryant University men's lacrosse team to a huge 13-5 win over visiting Robert Morris University on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the Bryant Turf Complex.

With the win, Bryant improves to 8-6 overall and 4-2 in Northeast Conference play, but more importantly, the Bulldogs secure a spot in the NEC men's lacrosse tournament that will take place May 4-6.  Robert Morris, the top team in the conference coming into Saturday's game, fell for the first time in league play, dropping to 4-1 in the NEC and 9-5 overall.

Behind the play of faceoff specialist Kenny Massa (Huntington, NY) and goaltending by junior James Werner (New Rochelle, NY), the Bulldogs set the tone early and never trailed against the Colonials. James took a feed from Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) and tucked a shot past RMU goalie Alex Heger to make it 1-0 just four minutes into the game. 

Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, NY) followed with an unassisted goal and Forsberg ripped home the first of his five goals on the day after taking a pass from James to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead after one quarter of play.

Robert Morris would finally get on the board as Carter Yepsen scored just 30 seconds into the second frame to make it 3-1, but Bryant would answer right back as a Forsberg ground ball would lead to a James goal to make it 4-1.  The goal for James gave him 209 points for his career, moving the senior into third place all-time at Bryant for career points.

Solid defense in front of the Bryant net helped ignite the Bryant offense as the Bulldogs stretched their lead after Forsberg scooped up a rebound from a Brett Baker (Ridgefield, CT) shot and one-timed one past Heger (14 saves) to give the Bulldogs a 5-1 advantage heading into the locker room at the half.

 "This was our most complete game all year," said coach Mike Pressler. "It was one we had to win. Offensively, we complimented the defense - something we didn't do last week - and Kenny Massa got us going on the faceoff."

Massa was 13-for-20 at the faceoff X today and helped keep the pressure on the Colonials throughout the afternoon.  A Forsberg goal from the right side opened the second half scoring, and following a tally from RMU's Matt Schmidt, Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, NY) took a pass from James to make it 7-2 with 3:27 left in the third quarter and the Bulldogs would stay in control the rest of the way.

Forsberg's fourth goal of the game later in the quarter to make it 8-2 while Baker added a goal of his own, picking up a rebound from a Forsberg shot that was saved by Heger, and pushed the Bryant lead to 9-2 heading into the final quarter.

Werner was solid between the pipes as the junior made seven saves in the first half and finished with 10 stops on the day.  

Kennedy would add two more goals in the fourth to finish with a hat trick on the day and giving him 18 goals on the season. Bryant out-shot Robert Morris 45 to 34 on the day and record 30 ground balls to RMU's 19.  The Bulldogs were also a perfect 20-for-20 on clears. 

RMU's Adrian Torok-Orban scored two fourth quarter goals to lead the Colonials who were held to a season-low five goals in the game. Robert Morris entered the game averaging a conference-best 13.25 goals per game average in conference play this year.

 "(James) Werner has had a tremendous year," added Pressler.  "To hold that team to five goals, they are a tremendous transition team. Our best performance when we needed it the most."

Bryant will host in-state rival Brown University on Tuesday evening at the Turf Complex (7 p.m.) in the final game of the 2017 regular season before opening NEC conference tournament play on May 4.