Waldt, Sipperly lead Bryant to 7-5 win at Hartford

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior attack Dan Sipperly (Greenwich,  N.Y.) scored his first hat trick of the season and the Bryant University men's lacrosse team never trailed in the contest, taking a 7-5 victory over the University of Hartford Saturday afternoon on the road.

Five different players contributed to seven Bryant (2-1) goals, with eight Bulldogs picking up at least a point in the win. The Hawks (1-1) saw two goals from leading scorer Kevin O'Shea, and two more from Ty Schuldt, as sophomore goalie Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) stood tall between the pipes en route to 17 saves for the Black and Gold.

"I am very impressed that Hartford, without question, imposed their will on us and made it a game that benefitted them," said head coach Mike Pressler. "They were stronger mentally than us, and we turned the ball over way too many times. But at the end of the day, our goalie – who has been elite through the entire preseason – had a special performance."

Sipperly scored the only goal of the first 15 minutes for either side, taking a pass from Will Montero (Walnut Creek, Calif.) in the fifth minute for a 1-0 Bryant lead. Senior middie Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) doubled that lead in the first 30 seconds of the second in unassisted fashion, and while Hartford's Alec Brown cut the deficit in half with less than five to go, redshirt-freshman longpole Cody O'Donnell (Smithfield, R.I.) sent Bryant into the locker room with a 3-1 edge at the half.

Hartford made its push early on in the third quarter, knotting the game at 3-3 less than five minutes in, scoring back-to-back tallies just 58 seconds apart from the sticks of Schuldt and O'Shea. The Bulldogs responded in kind, however, netting consecutive markers of their own in the quarter's second half. Sophomore Collins Gantz (Denver, Colo.) got on the board with an unaided goal at the 7:42 mark, and Sipperly would net his second of the day with 4:40 to play for a 5-3 Bryant edge.

Schuldt wrapped up third stanza scoring with three minutes to play, sending the Black and Gold into the final period with just a one-goal cushion.

And it was all the margin the Bulldogs would need. Sophomore attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) got in on the scoring action 3:15 into the fourth off a dish from senior middie Rob Goeren (Massapequa, N.Y.), and Sipperly would polish off his hat trick as the clock ticked under five to go in the contest, assisted by reigning NEC Player and Rookie of the Week Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.).

O'Shea capped off the game's scoring with 16 ticks remaining, but it wasn't enough to take down the Bulldogs, who scored their second-straight win with the 7-5 victory.

"There are three players who really stood out for us today – Gunnar in the goal, Dan Sipperly, who had three great inside plays, and then Kyle Mummau, who D'ed up Hartford's best offensive player and held him to just two goals today," said Pressler. "Those three guys had terrific performances for us, and we couldn't be more pleased for them."

Hartford topped the Bulldogs in a number of statistics on the day, including shots, 44-23, and ground balls, 36-27. Junior All-American Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) dominated the faceoff X, going 10-for-16 on the afternoon with a trio of ground balls. Adam Yee picked up five ground balls on a 6-of-16 day at the X for the Hawks.

Defensemen Matt MacGrotty (New Westminster, British Columbia) and Connor Dent (Havertown, Pa.) paced Bryant with five ground balls apiece, while Hartford's Chris Duffy led the game with seven, causing four Bulldog turnovers as well.

"Any road win is a great win," said Pressler, "and we were very, very lucky to beat an outstanding Hartford team on the road."

The Bulldogs are back in action Saturday, March 1, when they return to Smithfield, R.I. to host Yale at the Bryant Turf Complex at 1 p.m.