O'Rourke's record day leads Bryant to win over Stony Brook

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.) broke Bryant's Division I single-game goals record and sophomore Luke Caracciolo (Centreville, Va.) made a career-high 18 saves as the Bryant University men's lacrosse team defeated Stony Brook, 15-11, Saturday at Beirne Stadium.

O'Rourke's seven goals were the most by any Bulldog in the program's D1 era and matched Jon Yuengling's seven-goal performance in 2004 for the most in all-time program history. Caracciolo and the Bryant defense held a high-powered Stony Brook offense to 11 goals, matching the Seawolves' season-low.

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 15, Stony Brook 11
Records: Bryant (3-3), Stony Brook (5-2)
Location: Beirne Stadium (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH PRESSLER'S COMMENTS
"I'm very pleased. We were ready to play against an outstanding Stony Brook team that was 5-1 coming in. We got off to a great start up 4-1. The key spurt for us was coming out of halftime - we were up 7-3 and they immediately cut it to 7-5 early in the third. Our three-goal run to make it 10-5 was the difference in the game.

"One of the best games of 2020 for both Marc O'Rourke and Luke Caracciolo. A total team win on both sides of the ball to begin Spring Break. We have a quick turnaround to prepare for Tuesday against one of the best UNC teams I have seen to date. It's an incredible, exciting, challenging opportunity for our team to play one of the ACC's best this season."

KEY MOMENT

• Stony Brook scored the first two goals out of the halftime break, but Bryant responded to score the next three and push the lead to 10-5. The Bulldogs led by at least three the rest of the way.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• O'Rourke scored in the game's opening minute, and after the Seawolves briefly pulled even, redshirt-senior Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) put the Bulldogs back in front for good with 10:33 to play in the second quarter.
• O'Rourke scored again and then assisted on a goal from senior Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, N.J.) to help Bryant to a 4-1 lead through 15 minutes.
• Stony Brook cut the deficit to two on a pair of occasions in the second quarter with O'Rourke answering both times. A goal from redshirt-freshman Logan McGovern (Darien, Conn.) gave Bryant a 7-3 advantage at the half.
• Stony Brook scored twice in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter, but Bryant responded to tally four of the next five, with two from O'Rourke and one each from junior Pat Brosnan (South San Francisco, Calif.) and Buonaiuto opening up an 11-6 lead with 3:07 to go in the third quarter.
• A Buonaiuto goal gave Bryant a 12-7 cushion before Stony Brook cut the lead to three at 12-9 with 7:55 remaining in the contest.
• The Seawolves got back to a three-goal margin three times in the fourth quarter, but goals from O'Rourke, freshman Kevin Groeninger (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and McGovern – with McGovern's scored man-down and with a stick to his helmet – put the game out of reach.

STATS

• O'Rourke scored seven goals on 12 shots on goal and added an assist and two ground balls.
• Buonaiuto collected three goals and an assist and has 16 goals on the season. The attackman from Long Island has five multi-goal games in his first six contests of 2020.
• McGovern followed last Saturday's eight-point explosion with a five-point afternoon against the Seawolves on two goals and three assists while adding three ground balls.
• Caracciolo's 18 saves were the third-most in Bryant's D1 history and fourth all-time.
• Groeninger added two assists.
• Junior Ryan Baker (Draper, Utah) collected four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Stony Brook outshot Bryant, 51-42, but shots on goal were even at 29.
• The Seawolves held a 42-29 advantage in ground balls.

GAME NOTES

• Bryant improves to 3-3 all-time against Stony Brook and 12-7 against the America East.
• O'Rourke's seven-goal effort tops nine games of six goals in Bryant's Division I era. O'Rourke holds two of those performances, while Tucker James has three, Zack Greer has collected two, and Ryan Cerino and Bryan Kaufmann each have one.
• O'Rourke's eight points are tied for fifth in a game in Bryant's D1 history. His eight points against Mount St. Mary's in 2018 were the last occurrence.
• O'Rourke leaped into the top five in Bryant's Division I era in career goals with 84, passing Peter McMahon (83), Dan Sipperly (82) and Max Weisenberg (79). The junior tied Weisenberg for sixth in the program's D1 history with 127 points.
• Caracciolo's 18 saves match James Werner (2017) and Gunnar Waldt (2013) for third in a game since Bryant's jump to Division I in 2009. Jameson Love's record of 20 was set in 2010 at North Carolina.
• Bryant has scored 15 or more goals in three of its last four contests.

UP NEXT

Bryant travels to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to face No. 3 North Carolina Tuesday at 11 a.m. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.

Tickets for the 2020 season at Beirne Stadium are available HERE.

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