#2 Bryant dominates in 12-3 win in NEC Semifinal Thursday, advances to NEC Championship Saturday

GENEVA, N.Y. – The second-seeded Bryant University men's lacrosse team set the tone early in Thursday's Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinal, putting together its most complete game of the season to earn a 12-3 win over three-seed Robert Morris and trip to the 2017 NEC Championship Saturday.

All-NEC First Team selections Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) and Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) each recorded a hat trick for the Bulldogs (9-7) to lead seven different goal scorers. Fellow first teamer and junior faceoff specialist Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) was dominant at the X, going 14-of-17 with eight ground balls, while junior goalie James Werner (New Rochelle, N.Y.) turned away 12 to limit the Colonials (9-7) to a season-low three goals.

"Our guys were certainly ready to play," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "We had a great feel for Robert Morris and their strengths as a team. We had to duplicate the performance we had 12 days ago [a 13-5 regular-season win], and I am thrilled for our team to come back with a complete game today."

The Bulldogs set the pace early, going up 3-0 in the opening 10 minutes of the first. Senior midfielder Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) picked up right where he left off against Robert Morris after scoring a career-high five goals in the regular-season meeting, depositing a sharp-angle shot into side netting four minutes into the contest to give the Bulldogs a lead that would never be threatened.

Kennedy turned a loose ball into the Bulldogs' second goal with 7:22 to play in the first, and James would make it 3-0 from 15 yards straight out off a feed from junior Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) to force the Colonials into their first timeout.

Forsberg made it two on the day at the 2:44 mark, firing a shot across Robert Morris goalie Alex Heger's body that bounced under his stick and into side netting. Tyson Gibson would sneak one past Werner in the final second of the quarter, but it would be the Colonials' only score of the game's first 50 minutes.

"It was a great start by us offensively, and the stat of all stats was that we held Robert Morris to one goal for three quarters," Pressler said. "That was a combination of taking care of the ball on offense, playing great defense and winning faceoffs."

With the Robert Morris offense at bay, the Bulldogs would score the next eight-straight goals spanning into the fourth quarter.

The second frame started out at a quieter pace than the first, but the Bulldogs' fifth-ranked man-up offense would go to work halfway through the period, as senior Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) capitalized on the first penalty of the day for his eighth extra-man score of the season and a 5-1 Bulldog advantage.

Linemate Brett Baker (Ridgefield, Conn.) would add to that lead just over a minute later, and fellow senior Pearse McEneaney (Glastonbury, Conn.) would score his first goal of the season with 95 seconds to play before halftime to send the teams into the locker room with a 7-1 margin.

A Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) wraparound goal with 2:21 left in the third marked the seventh different scorer for the Black and Gold, and James would up the lead again just 1:09 later, intercepting a clearing pass from Heger (15 saves) while standing right on the crease to slam home a one timer that would send the Bulldogs into the fourth with a 9-1 advantage.

Bryant limited the Colonials to just 16 shots through the first three quarters and saw its four defensive starters pick up 10 ground balls and five caused turnovers. Werner grabbed four grounders to complement his 12 saves, while defensemen Kyle Mummau (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Anthony Johnson (Fairfield, Conn.) each registered two forced giveaways.

"It was a complete team effort," said Pressler. "It wasn't just defending them, it was cutting down their opportunities on offense. That was crucial for us."

In the fourth, Kennedy and James scored back-to-back goals just four seconds apart to extend the Bulldogs' lead to double digits, 11-1, and Kennedy would cap off Bryant scoring with 10 minutes to go in the eventual 12-3 win.

The Bulldogs doubled up the Colonials on ground balls, 36-18, and dominated the shot count, 39-26. Both teams took care of the ball, limiting turnovers to just 11 for Robert Morris and 12 for Bryant. The Bulldogs went 20-for-21 on the clear and 1-for-2 with the extra man.

With the victory, the Bulldogs move on to Saturday's NEC Championship game, where they will take on host and top-seed Hobart at 12 p.m. Saturday's title bout can be seen live on ESPN3 and NEC Front Row.