Bryant falls to Harvard, 7-5, on road

BULLDOGS DROP 7-5 DECISION AT HARVARD WEDNESDAY

SMITHFIELD, R.I. —The Bryant University men's lacrosse team scored early, but Harvard netted five-straight goals to close out the first half and didn't look back, taking a 7-5 victory over the Bulldogs Wednesday afternoon in Cambridge, Mass.

Junior Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) notched an unassisted tally 38 seconds into the contest, but the Bulldogs (0-7) wouldn't score again until after the halftime break, as the Crimson (3-3) got two goals from Devin Dwyer and Alex White and another from Brendan Newman to go up, 5-1, after the first two quarters.

Another Dunster unaided score closed the margin to 5-2 just 1:13 into the third quarter, and while Sean McDonagh renewed Harvard's four-goal lead at the 10:10 mark, Bryant would net three straight — goals from Brian Schlansker (Glenville, N.Y.) and Dunster to close the third, and a Dan Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y.) score just seconds into the fourth frame — to pull within a single goal, 6-5, with 14:21 left on the clock.

But the Bulldogs would get no closer, as Dwyer completed his hat trick for the home side at 8:10 for a 7-5 margin that would go final.

Sophomore faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) was impressive again from the X, going 11-for-16 while picking up a game-high 10 ground balls, while rookie goalie Tom Carey (New Canaan, Conn.) was stellar between the pipes, making a career-high 17 saves despite the loss. Dunster picked up his third-straight hat trick and finished the game with four points.

As a team, Harvard outshot the Bulldogs, 36-32, but went just 14-for-23 on clear attempts. The Bulldogs won the ground ball game, 25-17, but went 0-for-4 on man-up opportunities.

Bryant returns to the field Saturday afternoon, when the Black and Gold travel to Stony Brook for a 4 p.m. faceoff against the Seawolves.