Third-quarter rally drives Sacred Heart past Bryant

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Redshirt-freshman Nick Beeson (Poway, Calif.) had a career day with a three-goal effort, but a third-quarter surge pushed Sacred Heart past the Bryant University men's lacrosse team, 11-8, Saturday at Beirne Stadium.

Beeson recorded his first career three-goal game in the defeat. Freshman Luke Caracciolo (Centreville, Va.) made 13 saves for the Black & Gold.

GAME INFORMATION
Sacred Heart 11, Bryant 8
Records: Bryant (3-8, 1-3 NEC), Sacred Heart (6-5, 2-2 NEC)
Location: Beirne Stadium (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH PRESSLER'S COMMENTS
"Congratulations to Sacred Heart. It was a game of two halves – we had our way in the first half; they convincingly outplayed us in the second half. For us, we made some mental blunders when the game was being decided at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth. Credit goes to them, but a lot of it's on us. Back to the drawing board on Monday." 

KEY MOMENT

• Sacred Heart trailed 4-2 at the half but used a six-goal third quarter to take control of the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bryant struck first on a goal from senior Luke Finneran (Greenwich, Conn.) 1:34 into the contest. The Bulldogs would double the lead three minutes later when sophomore Austin Kent (Franklin, Mass.), who assisted on Finneran's goal, found the back of the net to put Bryant ahead 2-0.
• Sacred Heart scored two of the final three goals of the first quarter, bookending a tally from sophomore Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.), to trail Bryant 3-2 through 15 minutes.
• Beeson scored the lone goal of the second quarter to give Bryant a 4-2 halftime advantage.
• Back-to-back Pioneer goals out of the locker room evened the game at four before Beeson answered with 9:44 left in the frame to put Bryant ahead 5-4.
• The Pioneers scored the next four goals, including one with two seconds remaining in the quarter, to lead 8-5 heading to the fourth.
• Senior Ryan Cerino (Greer, S.C.) brought Bryant back within two at 8-6 with 10:34 to play, but the Pioneers answered with the next three to put the game out of reach.
• Freshman Mason Balch (Westfield, Mass.) scored with 2:51 to go and Beeson added a man-up goal 45 seconds later for the final 11-8 margin.

STATS

• Beeson recorded his first career three-goal game and has five goals in his last two games.
• O'Rourke tallied one goal, two assists, two ground balls and one caused turnover.
• Junior Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, N.J.) contributed two assists and three ground balls.
• Sophomore Ryan Baker (Draper, Utah) collected three ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• Junior James Stoler (Penfield, N.Y.) was 12-for-23 at the face-off X.
• Sacred Heart outshot Bryant, 41-34.
• The Bulldogs were 16-of-18 (.889) on the clear.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant drops to 12-1 all-time against Sacred Heart.
• O'Rourke scored a goal for the 15^th consecutive game Saturday. Entering the weekend, only 10 players in the nation had a longer scoring streak.

UP NEXT
Bryant travels to Geneva, New York, to face No. 20 Hobart next weekend. The noon start can be seen on HWSAthletics.com.

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

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