After starting the season 3-0 and ranking No. 20 in the country in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Poll, the Bobcats have lost four games in-a-row by one goal. On Saturday, things were different but the Bobcats were on the losing end again. In their Northeast Conference opener, the Bryant Bulldogs dominated Quinnipiac, 17-7, at the Bulldog Turf Complex in Smithfield, R.I.
The Bobcats need to regroup soon when they face NEC opponent, Mount St. Mary’s on April 6 at 12 p.m.
Quinnipiac (3-5, 0-1 NEC) was led by senior attackman Brendan Wilbur, who scored two goals, good for his eighth and ninth. Pat Corcoran added a goal and an assist. Michael Sagl, Chris Messina, Matt Diehl and Connor Meth each found the back of the net.
Colin Dunster recorded a game-high five points with four goals and an assist for Bryant (2-8, 1-0 NEC) while, Dan Sipperly added three goals and an assist. Mason Poli scored a hat trick and Shane Morrell added two goals for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs, who entered the matchup as the NEC’s worst offensive team jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game. Dunster scored consecutive goals, followed by tallies from Peter McMahon, Alex Zomerfeld and Poli.
Wilbur and Messina scored consecutive goals, to cut the deficit to three but that was as close as the Bobcats would get.
Poli added another goal to give Bryant a four-goal lead heading into the second quarter. The Bulldogs reeled off 10 straight goals, capped off by Sipperly’s third goal of the game midway through the third quarter. At halftime, the Bobcats were down 11-2 and it increased to 15-2 on Sipperly’s hat trick in the third.
The Bobcats showed grit in the third and fourth quarter as they scored five unanswered goals. Wilbur scored his second goal of the game with 4:23 left in the third, Sagl scored with 59 seconds left in the quarter to extend his point streak to 12-games, while Corcoran netted another with just six seconds left. However, it was too little too late as the Bryant led 15-5 entering the fourth quarter.
Diehl and Meth cut the deficit to eight goals, 15-7, with back-to-back goals to start the final frame, but the Bulldogs put the game out of reach with two more to ice the game.
Bryant dominated the Bobcats in nearly every statistical category. With the nation’s best faceoff percentage, Bryant dominated the draw, and controlled time of possession. The Bulldogs dominated the Bobcats, 24-4, on the faceoff, 59-33, in shots, and 52-21 in groundballs. Bryant was also 4 of 7 on the man-up and didn’t commit a penalty in the game.
