McMahon leads #19 Bryant to 17-9 win

McMAHON, DUNSTER LEAD #19 BRYANT TO 17-9 VICTORY OVER NEC RIVAL MOUNT. ST. MARY'S SATURDAY AT HOME

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – On the back of eight points from junior captain Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) and a pair of six-goal quarters, the 19th-ranked Bryant University men's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to eight-straight games with a 17-9 victory over Northeast Conference rival Mount St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium.

The Bulldogs (9-2, 2-0 NEC) remain a perfect 6-0 at home with the win and saw 11 different players chip in at least one point against a Mountaineer (3-6, 0-2) side that knocked the Bulldogs out of the NEC Tournament a season ago. Sophomore Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) was the game's leading scorer with four goals and an assist, while McMahon chipped in a pair of goals and an impressive six assists just one game after seeing his 40-game points scored streak snapped.

Bryant never trailed in the contest, getting the first score just 24 seconds into the game when McMahon connected with Dunster for the first of three such goals in the contest. McMahon scored his own tally less than four minutes later for a 2-0 edge before Andrew Scalley got The Mount on the board with 6:52 to play in the first.

But it was McMahon again who answered with just over three minutes to play, taking a pass from senior Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) to reassert a two-goal lead for the Black and Gold. The Mountaineers would get another before the end of the frame, but the home side tore the game wide open early in the second, exploding for four-straight goals in a 7:45 stretch for a 7-2 advantage.

"That was terrific by our guys on offense to break open a one-goal game at home at that crucial period of time," said head coach Mike Pressler. "Give the credit to [coach] Brad Ross – our offense continues to get better under his tutelage."

The stretch started with a Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) unassisted goal just 14 seconds after the starting faceoff, and Dunster would collect another McMahon pass minutes later for his second of the day and a 5-2 Bulldog edge with 12 to go before the break. Rookie Brian Schlansker (Glenville, N.Y.) netted his fourth goal of the season three minutes later off an assist from linemate Bo Redpath (Norwich, Vt.), and Alex Zomerfeld (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) capped the run off with his first of the day 44 ticks later off a feed from Dunster.

Mount St. Mary's would respond by scoring three of the next four goals in the stanza, but sophomore Dan Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) would break up the spurt, while Harrington would find the back of the net again with 26 seconds left to send the teams into the halftime break with Bryant leading, 9-5.

The hosts again scored early to open the third, this time a Zomerfeld tally 1:47 in to the period to double up the visiting Mountaineers, 10-5. The Mount's Christian Kellett cut into the deficit two minutes later, but it wouldn't last into the final 15 minutes, as Dunster – this time assisted by Weisenberg – put Bryant back up by five with 42 seconds left in the third.

"It was a huge halftime for us," said Pressler. "We were up by four, so were we going to let them close it to 9-7, or were we going to go out and make it 11-5 or 11-6 and extend our lead. I was very, very happy with the way we came out after halftime and got that cushion."

But the Bulldogs wouldn't be satisfied to let the fourth quarter go by without another push, answering Mount St. Mary's opening goal 10 seconds in with three more over a span of just 2:38 – scores from Dunster, Kyle Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) and defenseman Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) – for a 14-7 advantage with 11:33 still to play.

The visitors would score twice more in the final minutes, but not without a response, as the Bulldogs netted three in the final eight minutes for the 17-9 final, goals that included the second from Schlansker and the first-career tally from rookie Kevin Rudd (Berwyn, Pa.).

In all, Bryant capitalized on another solid outing from its second midfield unit, a group that contributed three goals and six points, while the team's top two scorers finished the day with a combined six goals and seven assists. Both Weisenberg and Redpath added a trio of helpers in the victory, while rookie faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) again finished the day over 60 percent with a 19-of-30 mark from the X.

"We just shared the wealth today," Pressler said. "The second midfield had six points, which is great to see. If you are going to score 17, there are bound to be contributions from multiple players, and that's what happened today. That was critical for us moving forward, though, because without question we played more people and more people had success on the offensive end."

On the day, the Bulldogs nearly doubled the Mountaineers in shots, 52-28, and the home side dominated on the ground game with 41 ground balls to Mount St. Mary's 18. Massa paced the tilt with eight, while Bryant got six more from Zomerfeld and five from Sipperly. Senior goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) posted eight saves for his ninth win of the year.

The Bulldogs will have just two days to celebrate the win, though, as the team returns to action for its third-straight Tuesday night game April 10 on the road at Holy Cross.