Orth, Norat connect in 96th minute to lift Bryant over Robert Morris Friday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind sophomore Curtis Orth's (Ancaster, Ont.) first tally of the season, the Bryant University men's soccer team took down Robert Morris, 1-0, in overtime of the Northeast Conference opener, Friday afternoon at Bulldog Soccer Field.

Over five minutes into to the first overtime period, the Bulldogs (5-4-1, 1-0 Northeast Conference) took possession in their attacking third with junior Brett Larocque (Ottawa, Ont.) corralling a pass and advancing the ball to senior Connor Norat (Wilmington, Del.) Norat moved toward the far right corner, patiently setting up a near perfect cross that skipped across the box, directly to the feet of Orth who collected the ball and fired the game-winner into the back of the net.

A physical match from start to finish, which included 33 total fouls and one yellow card, the Bulldogs outshot the visitors, 14-11, while the Colonials earned five corners compared to Bryant's four.

Junior keeper Chris Knaub (Yarmouth, Maine) and the Bryant defensive unit led by senior Shane Murphy (Kennett Square, Pa.), junior Jake Lamar (New Haven, Conn.), sophomore Pedro-Lucas Ferreira (East Boston, Mass.), and freshman John Conry (Bolton, Mass.) earned their third clean sheet of the season, and perhaps even more impressively, kept Neco Brett, the nation's leading scorer, off the board.

However, it wasn't without a few close calls with Brett narrowly missing a rocket from midfield just high in the 69th minute and Bruce Cullen pushing a promising chance to the far post a bit wide in the 74th minute.

But it was the Bulldogs' who took advantage of the best opportunity of the match, earning their second-straight over the Colonials, improving to 3-0-1 in their last four matches in the process.

Looking ahead, Bryant will look to go 2-0 in NEC play for the first time in program history when they welcome Saint Francis U. to Smithfield on Sunday (1 p.m.) for a rematch of the 2013 NEC Tournament Semifinals.

For links to live stats and streaming video of Sunday's match and all the latest news on the Bryant University men's soccer team, visit BryantBulldogs.com.