Schlansker, Bulldogs tame Bobcats, 9-5

HAMDEN, Conn. – Freshman Brain Schlansker (Glenville, N.Y.) recorded his first-career hat trick to lead the 19th-ranked Bryant University men's lacrosse team to its 10th-consecutive victory, 9-5, over Northeast Conference foe Quinnipiac Saturday afternoon at the QU Lacrosse Field.

With just five goals to his name entering the contest, Schlansker scored two tallies as part of a five-goal Bulldog (11-2, 3-0 NEC) spurt in the first half and completed the hat trick late in third quarter. The win exacts a bit of revenge for the Black and Gold after last year's 13-12 buzzerbeater defeat at home to the Bobcats (3-8, 2-1 NEC).

On Saturday, Quinnipiac jumped out to a quick lead just under a minute and a half into the game on a Brendan Wilbur goal, but the Bulldogs responded with the next five scores. Sophomore Alex Zomerfeld (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) kicked off the streak, tying the game three minutes later off an assist from linemate Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.), and the Bulldogs grabbed the lead with three more goals over the final six minutes of the first quarter. Schlansker made it 2-1 with 6:33 left in the frame, and junior Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) set up linemates Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) and Cody Isdaner (Gladwyne, Pa.) for back-to-back scores just over two minutes apart to put Bryant on top, 4-1.

Schlansker's second goal of the game pushed the lead to 5-1 three minutes into the second period, but the Bobcats would answer with three-straight markers spanning the two halves to close the gap to just a single goal. Michael Sagl and Dylan Webster scored less than a minute apart at the end of the first half to move the score to 5-3, and Matt Diehl scored just over three minutes into the third quarter to pull Quinnipiac within one, 5-4.

Seeing their lead trimmed to one, the Bulldogs responded with the next four goals to put the game away. McMahon scored a minute after Diehl to jumpstart the run, and Dan Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) and Schlansker scored two late third-quarter goals to make the score 8-4 at the end of three.

Sipperly netted his second of the contest with 3:25 left in the game to cap off the streak and push the lead to five for a 9-4 advantage, and while Basil Kostaras would get on the board with just eight seconds left, the goal would round out the scoring for the 9-5 final.

Rookie Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) won 12-of-18 faceoffs and collected a game-high 10 ground balls on the afternoon. Senior captain Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) made six saves, picked up two ground balls and caused a turnover to win his 11th game of the season, while Sipperly (2g, 1a), McMahon (1g, 2a) and Harrington (1g, 2a) all registered three points on the outing. Junior Kyle Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) added a pair of assists and linemate Bo Redpath (Norwich, Vt.) had one of his own for a six-point day from the second midfield unit.

The Bulldogs will have a week off before heading back to the Constitution State to face Yale on Friday, April 20. The opening faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m. in New Haven, Conn.