Five-goal third drives Bulldogs to 9-7 win

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After a lackluster first half, the Bryant University men's lacrosse team came back with five third-quarter goals, lifting the Bulldogs out of their halftime hole and giving the team just enough extra life to stave off a late Sacred Heart charge to take a 9-7 victory over the Pioneers Saturday night in Fairfield, Conn.

Three points apiece from sophomore Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) and senior Evan Roberts (West Cornwall, Vt.) paced the Bulldogs (7-6, 2-1 Northeast Conference) to the comeback win, but after two periods saw the visitors score just a trio of goals, Bryant would enter the halftime break with a 4-3 deficit.

Bryant fired 24 shots in the opening two periods without much success, as the Pioneers (4-7, 1-2) made good on a quartet of their 11 first-half shots, including getting the last two before the intermission.

But in the third, the Bulldogs came out with a whole new offensive fervor, as back-to-back Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) tallies gave Bryant a 5-4 lead. McMahon and Roberts followed up with scores 43 seconds apart for a three-goal advantage before McMahon netted an unassisted man-up tally with 4:18 to go in the frame to close out third-session scoring with an 8-4 advantage. All three recorded a pair of points in the stanza, as Roberts earned the assist on the second goal of the quarter.

But in the fourth, down, 8-4, the Pioneers cut Bryant's lead to three with 13 minutes still to go on an Aaron Lupo goal. Rookie Dan Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) would get it back with the Bulldogs' second extra-man score of the game, but two unanswered Sacred Heart goals got the home side back to within two, 9-7.

That was as close as the Pioneers would get, though, despite outscoring the visitors, 3-1, in the final frame before falling short.

The win was Bryant's fourth straight and second in Northeast Conference action. The Bulldogs nearly doubled up Sacred Heart on shots, 43-23, and picked up more ground balls by a 29-22 margin. Trever Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) paced the team and the game in the category with five ground balls, complimenting his 13-of-20 day from the faceoff X.

Zach Frank made 12 stops between the pipes for the home side while taking the loss, as Bryant netminder Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) needed just six saves to take the victory.

The Bulldogs return to the Bryant Turf Complex for their final homestand of the season and will host nationally ranked Yale in their final non-conference contest of the year Tuesday at 7 p.m.