Bulldogs downed by Saint Joseph's, 11-6

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.) scored two goals and added two assists, but Saint Joseph's pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 11-6 win over the Bryant University men's lacrosse team Saturday at Beirne Stadium.

GAME INFORMATION
Saint Joseph's 11, Bryant 6
Records: Bryant (2-7, 0-2 NEC), Saint Joseph's (5-4, 1-0 NEC)
Location: Beirne Stadium (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH PRESSLER'S COMMENTS
"Credit to Saint Joe's. They beat us in every phase of the game. I'm disappointed again – we followed the same theme as Mount St. Mary's with 41 shots and only six goals. You're not going to beat a quality team with that lack of production on offense. Back to the drawing board and next up is Wagner." 

KEY MOMENT

• Senior Luke Finneran (Greenwich, Conn.) found the back of the net to cut Bryant's deficit to 7-5 with 13:49 to go, but Saint Joseph's responded with the next four goals to build a six-goal advantage.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hawks took a 3-0 lead before senior Kevin Quigley (Fairfax Station, Va.) got Bryant on the board with 2:02 to play in the opening quarter.
• Freshman Mason Balch (Westfield, Mass.) added a goal 52 seconds later to pull within 3-2.
• Saint Joseph's scored the final three goals of the first half to take a 6-2 lead into the break.
• O'Rourke responded by netting the first two tallies of the second half to cut the Bulldog deficit to 6-4 with 10:55 remaining in the third quarter.
• Finneran answered a Saint Joseph's goal with his first of the season, cutting the Hawk lead to 7-5 with 13:49 to go.
• Saint Joseph's would score two man-up goals 16 seconds apart and add two more even-strength goals later in the quarter to extend its advantage to 11-5 with 5:08 to play.
• Sophomore Austin Kent (Franklin, Mass.) scored with 1:14 remaining for the final 11-6 margin.

STATS

• O'Rourke recorded his sixth-straight multi-goal game and eighth game this season of three or more points.
• Sophomore Emmet Kemble (Clifton, Va.) collected a career-high five ground balls.
• Junior Zach Coffey (West Newbury, Mass.) tallied two caused turnovers and two ground balls.
• Junior James Stoler (Penfield, N.Y.) went 9-for-20 at the face-off X.
• Freshman Luke Caracciolo (Centreville, Va.) made 10 saves.
• Bryant outshot Saint Joseph's, 41-30. However, the Bulldogs put under 50 percent of their shots on cage (19 of 41) for the second-straight game.
• The Bulldogs committed 13 turnovers to the Hawks' 19.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant drops to 4-5 all-time against Saint Joseph's and 2-5 since the Hawks joined the NEC in 2014.
• The six-game losing streak is Bryant's longest since losing seven consecutive games in 2013. That Bulldog team went on to win the NEC title.
• The defeat snaps an 11-game conference home winning streak. Bryant's last home NEC loss was to Saint Joseph's March 29, 2015.

UP NEXT
Bryant travels to Staten Island, New York, to face Wagner next Saturday. The noon opening face-off at Hameline Field can be seen on NEC Front Row.

Tickets for the 2019 campaign at Beirne Stadium are available by clicking HERE.

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