O'Rourke, Bryant enjoy scoring outburst in 20-11 win over Mount St. Mary's

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Freshman Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.) tied the Division I single-game program record with six goals and 10 different players found the back of the net as the Bryant University men's lacrosse team opened Northeast Conference play with a 20-11 win over Mount St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at the Bryant Track & Turf Complex.

O'Rourke added two assists for an eight-point afternoon. Senior Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) and sophomore Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) added three goals each for the Black and Gold in Bryant's highest-scoring performance since 2012. Graduate student Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) went 22-of-34 from the face-off X and collected a career-high 20 ground balls.

The victory was the 100^th in Bryant's Division I era and 200^th in program history.

GAME INFORMATION-
Bryant 20, Mount St. Mary's 11
Records: Bryant (3-5, 1-0 NEC), Mount St. Mary's (3-5, 0-1 NEC)
Location: Bryant Track & Turf Complex (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH PRESSLER'S COMMENTS
"The difference for us was just to get in the scoring column. To get nine by the half and another 11 in the second half – that's something we really haven't done all year. After three straight games of being in single digits that was huge for us."

"Also huge for us were the specialty positions. Kevin Beimfohr was at 50 percent in saves and Kenny Massa had an incredible day with 20 ground balls. It was our most complete team effort of the season today."

"We scored in a lot of different ways. We scored in transition, we scored off the face-off, we scored off the ride. We scored extra-man, we scored half-field. By scoring in different ways, you're going to be able to get other players in the scoring column, which was key for us today."

"Marc O'Rourke breaks out with six goals – had a great run at the end. Six goals on eight shots – that's a great breakout game of an incredible freshman year. I couldn't be more proud and happy of No. 6."

KEY MOMENT

• Bryant scored the first five goals of the game courtesy of five different goal scorers. The Bulldogs would lead by at least four goals for the remainder of the day.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Buonaiuto tallied the first Bryant goal of the day 2:04 into the contest. O'Rourke and sophomore Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, N.J.) would follow with goals 29 seconds apart before tallies from sophomore Zach Coffey (West Newbury, Mass.) and Ziegler pushed the advantage to 5-0 with 2:58 to go in the opening quarter.
• Mount St. Mary's would get one back in the closing seconds of the quarter, but Bryant answered with goals from Buonaiuto and freshman Austin Kent (Franklin, Mass.) to take a 7-1 lead with 10:28 to go in the half. The Mountaineers would score the next two to bring the game back within 7-3.
• Massa and Ziegler extended the advantage to 9-3 with a pair of goals 1:09 apart before the Mountaineers cut the deficit to 9-4 at the half.
• Defensemen Chas South (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Jake Fiske (Poway, Calif.) teamed up for the first goal of the second half, as a ground ball by South led to an opportunity in transition for Fiske to put Bryant up 10-4 just 16 seconds into the second half.
• Mount St. Mary's brought the game back within four before Bryant responded with five straight goals to put the game out of reach. O'Rourke scored two goals during the run, while junior Kevin Quigley (Fairfax Station, Va.), senior Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) and Buonaiuto each added one. Cornell and Buonaiuto's goals came on extra-man opportunities.
• The Mountaineers scored the next three goals to get back within six, but O'Rourke scored three more times in the fourth quarter, while Quigley and Ziegler each added a tally. The Bulldogs held a nine-goal lead three times in the contest, with Ziegler's goal with 1:10 remaining closing out the scoring.

STATS

• O'Rourke scored six goals on eight shot attempts while adding two assists and three ground balls.
• Buonaiuto scored three goals, including two on the man-up, and added one assist, one ground ball and one caused turnover.
• Ziegler scored three goals while chipping in an assist and a ground ball.
• Massa set a career-high with 20 ground balls while going 22-of-34 on face-offs and adding his fourth goal of the year.
• Junior Kevin Beimfohr (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) collected a career-high 12 saves.
• Quigley recorded his fourth-career multi-goal game, while Fiske scored the first goal of his Bulldog career in addition to collecting four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Coffey and Cornell both scored and assisted on another Bulldog goal, with Coffey adding two ground balls and Cornell one.
• Freshman Emmet Kemble (Clifton, Va.) recorded his first-career assist.
• Senior Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) notched an assist and three ground balls.
• Bryant outshot Mount St. Mary's, 44-37.
• The Bulldogs collected a season-high 43 ground balls.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant improves to 8-3 all-time against Mount St. Mary's.
• O'Rourke is the fourth Bulldog to score six goals in a game in the Division I era, joining Zack Greer, Bryan Kaufmann and Tucker James. The all-time mark of seven goals was set by Jon Yuengling in 2004 against Saint Anselm.
• Massa's 20 ground balls were the most in a game since Kevin Massa collected 20 against Albany in 2014. The total is one shy of Kevin Massa's Division I single-game mark two back of Brian Healy's all-time mark of 22 against Saint Anselm in 2003.
• The 20-goal output is the most since Bryant posted 21 goals against Wagner in 2012. Saturday was the fourth time in Bryant's Division I era that the Bulldogs have scored at least 20 times.
• The 38 ground balls were a season-high.

UP NEXT
Bryant travels to Sacred Heart for a game next Saturday. The 1 p.m. start in Fairfield, Connecticut, can be seen on NEC Front Row.

Bryant University Athletics has announced the Spring Sports Pass for the upcoming spring season. The Spring Sports Pass allows admission to all home men's and women's lacrosse, baseball and softball events for just $50. The Spring Sports Pass can be purchased by clicking HERE.

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