James scores career-high six goals, leads Bulldogs to breakout 16-6 win over Sacred Heart

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore attack Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) scored a career-high six goals while linemate Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) added five points as the Bryant University men's lacrosse team outscored Sacred Heart, 8-0, in the second half en route to a 16-6 home victory Tuesday night.

The victory marked the largest margin of the year for the Bulldogs (4-7, 2-2 Northeast Conference), who netted a season-best 16 goals to win back-to-back contests for the first time this season. Every facet of the Bryant offense was churning Tuesday night, as the hosts saw goals scored even strength, man-up and man-down. The Pioneers (4-6, 1-3) got single goals from six different scorers and never took a lead on the Black and Gold in the tilt.

The first goal of the day from sophomore transfer Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) gave the host Bulldogs a 5-2 edge in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but back-to-back Sacred Heart tallies cut that lead to just a single score, 5-4, with 9:37 to go before the halftime break.

James renewed a two-goal edge for the Bulldogs, completing his third hat trick of the year just eight minutes into the second frame off a pass from Morrell, and each team would score twice more to send the sides into the intermission with an 8-6 margin favoring the hosts. Five minutes after the second-career goal from redshirt-freshman Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.), James would complete the scoring in the half with his fourth tally of the day, this one from junior Collins Gantz (Denver, Colo.), with just 33 ticks to go.

SHU's final tallies of the frame both came unassisted from Reed Avveduti and Alex Dodge, but the scores would also be the last for the Pioneers in the contest, as the Bulldogs held their visitors scoreless to net eight unanswered goals through the final 30 minutes.

Bryant, however, was anything but quiet after the break.

Morrell scored his first of two goals on the day less than three minutes into the third, taking a pass from Kenny Massa (1 goal, 1 assist) and firing it home for a 9-6 Bulldog advantage.

Just over a minute later, Forsberg got back on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal that simply beat Pioneer netminder Jon Flood (8 saves). Three minutes after, Forsberg would feed James for his fifth tally of the day and an 11-6 Bryant lead, and sophomore Brett Baker (Ridgefield, Conn.) found the back of the net for the first time this season with 6:50 remaining in the third.

A man-up tally from Gantz, assisted by Morrell, would chase Flood from the SHU cage with the score at 13-6, but it wouldn't stop the Bryant deluge of scoring. The Black and Gold piled three more fourth-quarter goals – an unassisted score from rookie Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.), a man-down goal from Morrell and a sixth tally from James – past sophomore netminder William Crepeault (2 saves) before the final whistle blew in the 16-6 final.

In total, the Bulldogs saw goals from eight different sources in the contest and outshot the Pioneers, 42-31, including a 23-11 margin in the second half. Senior faceoff specialist Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) was again strong at the X, going 16-of-24 with a game-best eight ground balls, helping to lead the Bulldogs to 31 grounders on the day to SHU's 24. Bryant went 15-of-16 on the clear while forcing a season-high 10 caused turnovers out of Pioneer sticks. Rookie defenseman Anthony Johnson (Fairfield, Conn.) led the way with three.

Junior goalie Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) made eight saves in net before giving way to freshman James Werner (New Rochelle, N.Y.) for the final minutes of the contest (1 save).

The Bulldogs now look onward to an important NEC battle Saturday afternoon, as Robert Morris visits the Bryant Turf Complex for a 1:00 p.m. Senior Day bout that can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com.