May 6, 2007
LE MOYNE CAPTURES NORTHEAST-10 MEN'S LACROSSE TITLE DEFEATING BRYANT 5-4 SUNDAY
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| Bryant captains Corey MacDougall (left) and Bryan Molk (right) accept the 2007 tournament runner-up trophy from Northeast-10 Commissioner David Brunk Sunday. View more championship game photos and purchase at www.dspics.com |
SMITHFIELD, RI - Le Moyne junior Brian Cost (Camillus, NY) broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth quarter with a goal from midway through the fourth and junior Mike McDonald (Latham, NY) added two late fourth quarter goals to help lift the Dolphins to their seventh-straight Northeast-10 Conference title, defeating Bryant in the conference championship, 5-4 here Sunday afternoon.
Le Moyne (13-2), the second seed of the tournament and No. 2 team in the country, dominated throughout the entire game, holding a commanding 33 to 14 shot advantage and winning all but two face-offs in the game. But despite the one-sided game, Bryant's defense came up big on the afternoon and kept the Le Moyne offense in check for much of the game.
The Dolphins were the first to get on the board, but it took nearly the entire first quarter to do so. Nick Gatto (Syracuse, NY), who had three assists in the game, hit a cutting Cost in front of the net with 22 seconds left to make it 1-0 Le Moyne.
Sixth-ranked and top-seed Bryant (11-4), the Northeast-10 regular season champions, struggled throughout the first half to clear the defensive zone. A tenacious and aggressive fore-check by the Dolphins caused the Bulldogs to fail on six first half clear attempts.
Tom Donahue (Syracuse, NY) made it 2-0, scoring on a low shot at the 13:50 mark of the second quarter with Gatto again getting the assist after hitting the junior with a nice pass from behind the net. Le Moyne held an 11 to 1 shot advantage after the first quarter, but the Bulldogs made good on a strong save in net by goalie Michael Kennedy (Port Jefferson Station, NY) to finally get on the scoreboard in the second.
Following a save by Kennedy on a Cost point-blank shot, the Bulldogs were able to clear the ball up-field. Once set, Zach Rosenow (Oyster Bay, NY) took a feed from behind the Le Moyne net and hit a cutting Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, NY) who ripped a shot past Dolphin keeper Jared Corcoran (Concord, NH).
After making a few adjustments at the half, the Bulldogs were able to get the equalizer in the third as Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) picked up a loose ball from a failed clear attempt by Le Moyne and hit teammate Jim Long (Durham, NH) on the left. Long was able to beat Corcoran with a hard, high shot to make it 2-2 with 8:52 left to go in the third quarter.
In the fourth, Bryant had the potential go-ahead goal called back after Alex Pfau (Bel Air, Md.) was whistled for a crease violation after diving across the front.
On Le Moyne's ensuing possession, Cost was able to put the Dolphins ahead 3-2 and McDonald followed with an unassisted goal to make it 4-2 with 6:26 left.
Bryant would not away just yet, as Le Moyne again failed to take care of the ball across midfield as defenseman Vince Zorskas (Port Washington, NY) stripped Brian Griffin (Camillus, NY) and started a counter attack for Bryant. Wasting little time, Zorskas quickly hit Kaufmann who again blew one past Corcoran for his second goal of the game to make it 4-3.
Three minutes later, McDonald, the 2007 NE-10 Tournament MVP, notched his second of the game and what would prove to be the eventual game-winner but Bryant again found a way to make it a little interesting. With the game clock winding down, Kaufmann took a Bryan Molk (Peabody, Mass.) entry pass and scored his third of the game to make it a one goal game again with three seconds left. But that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get as Le Moyne was able to hold on for its seventh-straight conference title.
Le Moyne won 11 of 13 face-offs in the game and held Bryant's extra-man offense scoreless on six tries. Kennedy finished with 15 saves for Bryant while Corcoran had six for Le Moyne.
The NCAA will announce the 2007 Division II tournament bracket tonight at 9 p.m.
