Men's Lacrosse Falls to #5 C.W. Post 10-7 Saturday
MEN'S LACROSSE
March 3, 2007
#5 C.W. POST DEFEATS #9 BRYANT 10-7 SATURDAY
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| Bryan Kaufmann notched three goals against CW Post Saturday afternoon. www.dspics.com |
SMITHFIELD, RI - Sophomore attackman Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, NY) notched a hat trick with three goals but it was not enough to overtake fifth-ranked C.W. Post as the Pioneers withstood a late charge by ninth-ranked Bryant University to pull out a 10-7 win over the ninth-ranked Bulldogs in non-conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.
With temperatures feeling more like spring compared to last week's opener that had a wind-chill in the single digits, the Bryant offense fell behind 4-1 after one quarter and the Bulldogs trailed 6-2 midway through the second before scoring a pair of goals just before halftime to close to within two.
Kaufmann found a seam in front of the Pioneer goal and beat CWP goalie Nick Dello-Iacono high for an unassisted goal to make it 6-3. Then, with under a minute to play in the half, sophomore Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) picked up a loose ball after a save by Dello-Iacono on a shot by Bryant freshman Brad Burton (Hauppauge, NY), and one-timed one by the Pioneer goalie to make it 6-4 at the break.
In the second, CW Post went up 7-4 on a man-up goal by Greg Cerar (two goals) early, but Bryant would answer as Burton tallied a man-up goal of his own at the 8:57 mark and Kaufmann would net his third of the game after Burton snared another ground ball and quickly fed Kaufman who whirled around one defender and scored to make it 7-6.
CW Post (4-0) would make it a two-goal game a minute later on a goal by Joe Meo, but Bryant, finding a little momentum, had another answer as Hoagland took a feed on from a streaking Jim Long (Durham, NH) after a successful clear and ripped one past Dello-Iacono. to pull the Bulldogs to within a goal at 8-7.
Bryant (0-2), looking for the equalizer in the fourth, grabbed possession following a C.W. Post turnover near midfield, but a high pass back sailed over Bryant goalie Michael Kennedy (Port Jefferson Station, NY) and into the net for an own-goal and the Bulldogs were never able to recover.
Bryant out-shot the visiting Pioneers 41 to 23 but Dello-Iacono stood tall in net for the visitors. The senior made 20 saves on the afternoon, including several from within close range. Bryant, playing without all-American face-off specialist who was injured this week in practice, lost the face-off battle as Mike Cama had a strong game for C.W. Post, as the sophomore won of 14 of the 21 face-offs in the contest.
Bryant will travel to #9 Saint Andrew's next Sunday for a non-conference game starting at 1 p.m. The team will visit third-ranked NYIT on March 17 before returning home to host Pace on March 20. C.W. Post will travel to Southern N.H. next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game in Manchester, NH.
