Bryant picks up 13-8 win over Hobart on Senior Day

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse benefitted from eight goal scorers – including five multi-goal scorers – in a 13-8 win over Hobart Saturday on Senior Day at the Bryant Track & Turf Complex.

Junior Kevin Quigley (Fairfax Station, Va.), redshirt-sophomore Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) and sophomore Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, N.J.) each had two goals and an assist for the Bulldogs, who kept themselves in contention for the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Conference tournament. That will be determined by the result – and potentially the score – of next Saturday's Robert Morris-Saint Joseph's game.

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 13, Hobart 8
Records: Bryant (7-6, 5-1 NEC), Hobart (4-9, 1-4 NEC)
Location: Bryant Track & Turf Complex (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH PRESSLER'S COMMENTS
"It was so imperative for us that this great senior class – these 13 incredible men – go out as winners on their home field in their last regular-season home game, against a Hobart team whose back was against the wall, having to beat us to get into the NEC tournament. I was really pleased – our guys had a major league rebound in every phase of our game from the game against Saint Joe's in Philly a week ago."

"Kevin Quigley, Trevor Weingarten, Matt Heldberg – our big, physical middies got to the goal, which was key for us. I thought we had a very clean game with only eight turnovers, our lowest of the year. We scored 13 goals and we don't do as well on the face-off as we've done in the past. To win by five at home in the final home game, I couldn't be more pleased. It's a lot of momentum going into Brown on Tuesday."

KEY MOMENT

• Bryant led 4-3 with just over a minute remaining in the first half when senior Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) scored and then assisted on a goal by freshman Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.) in the final 1:06 to send Bryant into the half up 6-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Hobart struck first on a Justin Scott goal, which was answered by the first goal of the day from O'Rourke with 3:10 remaining in the first quarter. The game was knotted at one through 15 minutes.
• Quigley scored six seconds into the second quarter to put Bryant ahead for the first time.
• Hobart tied the game 2-2 with 11:19 remaining in the half, but Heldberg responded 50 seconds later to put Bryant back on top. The Bulldogs would lead for the remainder of the contest.
• Quigley doubled the lead at 4-2 with 7:31 to go in the half, but Hobart got back within one just over a minute later.
• With Bryant leading 4-3, Kennedy scored one goal and assisted on another by O'Rourke in the final 66 seconds of the half to send the Bulldogs into the locker room up 6-3.
• Weingarten opened the second-half scoring 52 seconds in to push the Bryant advantage to 7-3.
• The Statesmen broke up the Bulldog run with a goal to cut it to 7-4 with 13:20 remaining in the third quarter.
• Bryant would score the next three goals, beginning with a Buonaiuto tally to make it 8-4. The Bulldogs would strike again 11 seconds later, as graduate student Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) won the ensuing face-off to himself and passed it off to senior Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) to push the lead to 9-4 with 10:04 to play in the third quarter.
• Sophomore Jake Fiske (Poway, Calif.) added to the lead in the third, as the Bulldog LSM streaked down the field and fired one past the Hobart goalie for a 10-4 advantage with 2:52 to go in the third.
• Hobart would score twice in the final 2:01 of the third quarter to cut the Bryant lead to 10-6 heading to the fourth. The Statesmen would add another just over a minute into the fourth quarter to make it 10-7.
• Buonaiuto answered 54 seconds after the Hobart goal, and Heldberg 43 seconds after that, as Bryant extended its cushion to 12-7.
• Hobart would get one back before Weingarten closed out the scoring with his second goal of the day with 3:09 to go.

STATS

• Buonaiuto, Quigley and Weingarten each scored two goals and added an assist, while O'Rourke and Heldberg added two goals apiece. Kennedy, Ziegler and Fiske chipped in a goal each as Bryant had eight goal scorers and five multi-goal scorers.
• Senior Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) and Massa each tallied an assist.
• Massa was 10-of-24 on the face-off with six ground balls, two caused turnovers and an assist.
• Junior Kevin Beimfohr (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) made eight saves on 16 shots and collected five ground balls. Bryant outshot Hobart, 39-31.
• The Bulldogs held a 24-20 advantage in ground balls.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant improves to 7-4 all-time against Hobart.
• The Bulldogs are 2-0 this year when losing the face-off battle. Massa was also 10-for-24 Feb. 24 at Hartford – a game the Bulldogs won 15-10.
• Bryant extended its NEC home winning streak to 11 games and went 3-0 at home in the NEC regular-season slate for the third-straight year.

UP NEXT
Bryant returns to action Tuesday night with a non-conference game at Brown. The 7 p.m. contest can be seen on the Ivy League Network.

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