Friday, March 20, 2009
GREER SCORES BIG AS BULLDOGS GET BACK TO WINNING, TAKE 15-6 VICTORY OVER THE UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY FRIDAY NIGHT AT HOME
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Graduate student Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) scored six goals while linemates Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) and Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) notched five points apiece to lead the Bryant University men's lacrosse team to a 15-6 victory over the University of Detroit Mercy Friday night at the Bryant Turf Complex.
Greer notched seven points on the day, tacking on an assist in the second half, while Kaufmann, Hoagland and freshman Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) each netting a pair of goals in the contest as the Bulldogs got back on the side of winning in their first return home since Feb. 28.
Junior faceoff specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.) stood out again at the X, getting the Bulldogs (5-4) possession after possession, winning 19-of-23 opportunities. Overall, Bryant was 21-of-25 on faceoff chances on the day.
Greer got the scoring going with back-to-back goals to lead off the first frame, assisted by Kaufmann and Hoagland, respectively, to put the home team up, 2-0, just over five minutes into the contest.
A penalty on Tim Clinton (Darien, Conn.) gave the Titans (0-6) their first man-up opportunity of the night - they would have six - as well as their first goal to cut the Bulldog lead to 2-1. Detroit would go 4-for-6 on extra-man opportunities on the evening.
The Bulldogs would go on to score seven straight goals to bridge the first and second periods, a run sparked by a Jim Long (Durham, N.H.) unassisted tally with 6:12 to play in the first session.
Hoagland followed suit minutes later before Greer scored his third, fourth and fifth goals of the contest in succession, the first two coming in the final 2:30 of the first frame (from Kaufmann and Hoagland) and the third - his 26th of the year - coming 1:21 into the second period (again from Hoagland) to go up, 7-1. Greer would tack on one more unassisted score late in the third.
Goals by Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) and Hoagland brought the score to 9-1 before the Titans answered with an unassisted tally from Kevin Demorest with 5:10 to play before the break.
John Nowicki capped off the last minute of first-half action with a man-up goal to send Bryant to the locker room with a 9-3 advantage.
Kaufmann deposited back-to-back tallies of his own to open the second half before Greer capped off his six-goal performance to go up, 12-3, with 2:10 to play in the third.
Kaufmann hooked up with Harrington just nine seconds later to give the rookie his fourth goal of the year, and it took just another 2:10 for fellow frosh Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) to penetrate the defense and add his fifth of the season for a 14-3 edge.
A pair of man-up goals from Detroit leading scorer Matt Gregson to open the final frame closed the deficit to 14-5 before Harrington recorded the Bulldogs ‘ only man-advantage tally of the night, assisted by Greer, with 4:03 remaining.
Vince Wigdahl would chip in one more for the Titans with under two minutes to play, but the Bulldogs would take the final victory, 15-6.
Rookie goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) recorded 10 saves for the win before senior Brad Burkhardt (Branford, Conn.) came on in relief for the final 7:38, picking up a pair of saves.
Hennessey collected a game-high 13 ground balls while defenseman Matt Murnane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) picked up six.
The Bulldogs outshot the Titans, 42-32, picking up 66 ground balls to Detroit's 34.
Bryant won't have long to celebrate though. The Bulldogs will be back in action Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they host Penn at the Bryant Turf Complex.
