FRIARS KEEP UP BUT CAN’T TOP BULLDOGS, BRYANT WINS 9-8 NAILBITER ON THE ROAD SATURDAY
April 03, 2010
FRIARS KEEP UP BUT CAN’T TOP BULLDOGS, BRYANT WINS 9-8 NAILBITER ON THE ROAD SATURDAY
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Friars owned a 1-0 lead for 84 seconds but the Bryant University men’s lacrosse team quickly took over and never looked back, using a trio of goals from junior attacker John Truscello (Holbrook, N.Y.) to take a 9-8 victory over in-state rival Providence College on the road Saturday afternoon.
Truscello’s three scores included the eventual game-winner and tied a career high for the first-line attacker, also marking a game high on the day. Fellow junior and first-line midfielder Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) added a pair of goals in the affair while linemates Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) each added a goal and an assist. Rookie Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) and senior Bryant Amitrano (Valley Stream, N.Y.) would be the only other Bulldog scorers in the outing, collecting a pair of assists and a second-quarter tally, respectively.
Down, 7-6, entering the fourth and final quarter, the Friars (0-7) used a goal from Mike Feldberg just 45 seconds in to create the sixth tie of the game, 7-7. But it would also be the last.
Weisenberg regained the lead for the Bulldogs 1:27 later off a Crowley assist to give Bryant (6-3) an 8-7 edge, and Truscello completed his hat trick with what would end up being the unassisted game winner at the 7:25 mark of the final frame.
Jackson Fallon would test the Bulldogs’ drive in the final 65 seconds, closing the gap to just one with an unassisted goal – his second of the day – but in the end, Bryant would hold strong through the final whistle for the 9-8 road win.
The Friars tested Bryant sophomore goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) with 24 shots, including a game-high nine in the fourth quarter, but put just 11 of them on goal, while the Black and Gold let 30 shots fly, 20 of them on target.
Providence found their only lead of the day with 4:45 to play in the opening frame off a Kyle Dexter unaided tally, but back-to-back penalties would hurt the Friars as McMahon would connect with Larson 1:24 later for a man-up goal that would wipe away that advantage for a 1-1 tie.
Crowley would capitalize on the second of those consecutive miscues with just under two minutes to play in the first for a 2-1 edge, but the home side would reknot the score with 50 seconds to go in the session with an unassisted Feldberg score.
Amitrano scored in unassisted fashion to get the Bulldogs back the lead in the first four minutes of the second frame, but Providence again had an answer, this time in Christopher Mahoney.
The teams would trade goals over the next quarter and a half, driving the score to 5-5 with 8:56 to play in the third following a Pete Wujciak tally before the Bulldogs strung together back-to-back goals for their first two-score lead of the day, 7-5. Truscello earned his second of the afternoon with 6:15 to go, again unassisted, and Larson chipped in his second off a Weisenberg feed with 2:40 to play in the period for the 7-5 score.
“John made some plays today,” said fourth-year head coach Mike Pressler after the game. “He didn’t get a lot of shots, but he buried the ones that he did take. Kudos to him – he’s been playing much better in practice as of late and that certainly shows.”
But the Friars again would answer, tying the score at 7-7 with consecutive tallies of their own, the first from Dexter with 1:27 to go in the third and the second from Feldberg for the sixth and final deadlock of the game.
“The credit goes to Providence,” said Pressler. “They were much more inspired than us. They were ready to play at the beginning and for whatever reason that we were not, and that’s very disappointing.
“For the first time in nine games, our defense was really sub-par,” he continued. “Fortunately, we made a couple of plays at the end and never let them tie us there. They cut it to one but the game just ended.”
On the day, Providence won the ground ball battle, 29-26, and the Bulldogs recorded just four caused turnovers, two of them coming from senior defenseman Matt Murnane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.). Love collected only three saves in the outing, not recording a single stop throughout the first two quarters. PC netminder Chris Dzwilewski made 11 stops for the home side.
“Jameson mirrored us defensively,” said Pressler, “and after all the praise he’s received in the first eight games, he was not at the same level today.”
Neither team excelled on the clear, with Bryant completing 11-of-21 attempts and the Friars making good on just 10-of-21 chances. The Bulldogs did succeed on two of their three extra-man opportunities, holding Providence scoreless on its only man-up chance of the day.
Still, Pressler doesn’t know why his Bulldogs didn’t come to play against their newest and closest rivals.
“We prepared,” he said. “We have a lot of respect for Providence, a new rival, and the Friars haven’t won a game yet, so you know you are going to get their top effort. I was very disappointed that we couldn’t match, at any point in the game, their enthusiasm.
“For us moving forward, we have to play a heck of a lot better if we are going to do well against much stiffer upcoming competition in nationally ranked Brown and conference opponent Robert Morris,” Pressler added. “But when you find a way to win without playing positively in any phase of the game, that’s a positive. We’ll take the win and be proud at 6-3.”
The Bulldogs remain on the road for their next two matchups and return to action on April 6 at No. 16/17 Brown (7 p.m.). From there, Bryant will wrap up the current three-game road trip against Northeast Conference rival Robert Morris on April 10 (1 p.m.).