Kennedy and Ziegler score five goals each as Bryant downs Brown, 17-9

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Seniors Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) became the first Bulldog teammates in nine years to each score five goals in a game as the Bryant University men's lacrosse team emphatically closed out the regular season with a 17-9 road win over Brown Tuesday night at Stevenson-Pincince Field.

Kennedy and Ziegler both added assists to their five-goal performances, while freshman Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.) chipped in six points of his own with three goals and three assists.

The only other instance of Bryant having two five-goal scorers or three six-point scorers in the Division I era both came Feb. 19, 2009 at Sacred Heart, when Zack Greer, Bryan Kaufmann and Kevin Hoagland combined for 17 goals and eight assists in a 22-8 victory.

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 17, Brown 9
Records: Bryant (8-6, 5-1 NEC), Brown (5-8, 2-3 Ivy)
Location: Stevenson-Pincince Field (Providence, R.I.)

COACH PRESSLER'S COMMENTS
"It's just a huge road W to beat a great Brown team at their place. I'm so happy for our senior class. Two wins in four years for them – I'm happy for them. We were so ready to play today. We were so excited to play. We had great energy. We found our way offensively – this was our best offensive performance of the year against a quality opponent all year."

"Tom Kennedy and Cam Ziegler, two of our captains, stepped up when we needed it most. Kenny Massa was terrific in the second half. Kevin Beimfohr in the goal made timely saves. It was just an overall great team win in every phase. I couldn't be more proud to end the regular season with two quality wins against Hobart and Brown. Now we take a couple days, regroup, and get ready for the NEC tournament."

KEY MOMENT

• Brown tied the game 6-6 with 11:27 to go in the second quarter before Ziegler answered 20 seconds later to put Bryant back on top. The Black and Gold would go on an 8-0 run that spanned both halves while holding the Bears off the scoreboard for exactly 22 minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) assisted on each of Bryant's first two goals, as tallies from O'Rourke and Kennedy had Bryant ahead 2-1 with 10:13 to go in the first quarter.
• Brown scored the next two, but goals from Kennedy and redshirt-sophomore Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) put Bryant up 4-3 with 2:30 to play in the opening stanza. The Bears re-tied the game 23 seconds later.
• A man-up goal from Ziegler gave the Black and Gold a 5-4 lead through 15 minutes.
• Brown tied the game 1:17 into the second quarter, but a Ziegler goal 22 seconds later gave the lead back to Bryant at 6-5.
• The Bears knotted the game at six with 11:27 remaining in the second quarter – the last goal Brown would score until 4:27 to play in the third quarter.
• A string of eight straight Bryant goals began with Ziegler's second man-up score of the half. The senior from California would score twice more in the opening half, while Kennedy and O'Rourke added goals for an 11-6 halftime lead.
• Bryant would score the first three goals of the second half, as Kennedy, O'Rourke and junior Matt Heldberg (Kings Park, N.Y.) scored to give Bryant a 14-6 cushion with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter.
• Brown ended its scoring drought with a Matt Hudak goal to cut it to 14-7 with 4:27 to play in the third. The Bears scored a man-up goal two minutes into the fourth quarter to pull within 14-8 – the closest the home team would get the rest of the night.
• Sophomore Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, N.J.) chipped in two goals – both in the midst of a 30-second clock – to extend the lead to 16-8 with 5:53 to go.
• Brown scored its final goal with 5:05 to go and Kennedy added a score in the final seconds for the 17-9 final.

STATS

• Ziegler recorded five goals, one assist and three ground balls, while Kennedy notched five, one and one.
• O'Rourke posted three goals, three assists and four ground balls.
• Graduate student Chas South (Ridgefield, Conn.) and senior Anthony Johnson (Fairfield, Conn.) each collected two caused turnovers and a ground ball.
• Cornell notched three assists and three ground balls.
• Sophomore Jake Fiske (Poway, Calif.) recorded four ground balls.
• Graduate student Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) was 17-of-29 at the face-off X with nine ground balls.
• Junior Kevin Beimfohr (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) made eight saves on 17 shots on goal.
• Bryant outshot Brown, 40-34.
• The Bulldogs held a 36-25 advantage in ground balls.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant improves to 4-6 all-time against Brown.
• The eight-goal margin of victory was the largest in the history of the series. Brown defeated Bryant, 11-7, in 2009. Each of the seven meetings since, prior to tonight, had been decided by two goals or less.
• The 11 first-half goals matched an 11-goal second half against Mount St. Mary's (March 17) as the most in a half this season.
• Ziegler jumped to eighth in program history in career goals (88), moving past Steve Coppinger and Peter McMahon. The senior improved to ninth in points (134), surpassing Andrew Serge.
• O'Rourke became the first Bryant freshman to score 30 goals in a season since Tucker James scored 31 in 2014.
• Bryant went 1-1 in Ocean State Cup games this season, falling 13-8 at Providence Feb. 17 and defeating Brown Tuesday.

UP NEXT
Bryant will play in the NEC Semifinals Thursday, May 3. The site and opponent will be determined by the results – and possibly scores – of Saturday's NEC games.

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