James and Morrell combine for eight goals in Bulldog’s 13-12 road victory over Colonials, Saturday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's lacrosse team led, 6-0, after one period, but were pushed to the brink in the second half, squeaking by Robert Morris, 13-12, in its Northeast Conference opener on Saturday in Moon Township, Pa.  

Senior attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) and junior attackman Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) paced the Bulldogs (5-3, 1-0 NEC) with four scores apiece, as the former handed out two assists and the latter dished out a helper. Midfielders Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) each registered a goal and two assists, and Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) and Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) tallied two points on two scores and two helpers, respectively. Senior captain Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) made 11 stops in the win, moving him into first place on Bryant's all-time saves list with 673 career stops.  

The Colonials (4-6, 2-1) were led by seniors Luke Laszkiewicz and James Rahe, who matched Morrell with six points each on five goals and an assist and two scores and four assists, respectively. Adrian Torok-Orban netted three goals to go along with an assist, while Alexander Bohl tallied three points on one score and two helpers in the loss.

The Bulldogs came out firing and grabbed a 6-0 lead before the end of the first quarter thanks to a pair of goals from both James and Morrell.

Laszkiewicz got the Colonials on the board just over a minute into the second period with a rip over the left shoulder of Waldt, but Morrell gave himself a first-half hat trick at the 11:18 mark on a winder into the upper corner to make it 7-1. Both sides exchanged goals to conclude the half to give Bryant an 8-2 advantage after 30 minutes.

As well as the Bulldogs played in the first period, the Colonials played equally as aggressive in the third period. Rahe and Kennedy traded goals to make it 9-3 less than two minutes into the frame, but Laszkiewicz fired in consecutive unassisted goals to kickstart a 4-0 run, making it 9-7 with 6:44 to play in the third.

Sharpe put a stop the Robert Morris surge with a quick side-armed shot into the lower left of the net, and Laszkiewicz answered with his third goal of the stanza to make it 10-8 in favor of the Bulldogs with 4:14 remaining.

Morrell caged his fourth goal of the afternoon 1:36 later, and James recorded the hat trick just 27 after to give the Bulldogs a 12-8 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Following a turnover near the crease from Rahe, Waldt picked up the ground ball, immediately pushed it forward for the clear, and James netted a quick score from the point into the upper right of the cage to make it 13-8 with just over 12 minutes to play.

The Bulldogs forced three Colonial turnovers over the ensuing six minutes, and were able to fire five shots on target without a conversion, as they maintained their 13-8 edge with just under six minutes to go.

Torok-Orban gave the hosts their first two goals since the 4:14 mark of the third, netting each score just one minute apart, making it 13-10 with just under five minutes left.

Robert Morris caused a Cody O'Donnell (Smithfield, R.I.) turnover, and Bohl brought the hosts to within two scores immediately following the change of possession. Chris Barney won the ensuing faceoff, giving the Colonials a chance to cut the deficit to one, which they were able to do on a Rahe score at the conclusion of a 1:30 possession with 2:02 to play.

The Bulldogs won the following faceoff, but a James shot was saved by freshman netminder Alex Heger (12 saves on 25 shots) with 55 ticks, giving the Colonials one final chance for an equalizer.

Laszkiewicz cocked back and fired a shot with 21 seconds on the clock, but Waldt made his 11th save of the contest. O'Donnell redeemed himself with a critical ground ball, allowing the Bulldogs to hold onto their conference-opening win in their first game in three weeks.

Bryant returns to action in just three days when it travels to intrastate rival and No. 3 Brown in a battle for the Ocean State Cup, with first faceoff in Providence set for 7:00 p.m.