Men's Lacrosse Loses in Overtime to Bryant 9-8 Conference Semis

Men's Lacrosse Loses in Overtime to Bryant 9-8 Conference Semis

SMITHFIELD, RI – Jim Long scored at 1:39 of overtime giving Bryant University the thrilling, come-from-behind 9-8 victory over the Warriors Friday afternoon in the Northeast-10 Semifinals.

With the victory, the Bulldogs advance to the Northeast-10 Championship against #1 Le Moyne on Sunday in Syracuse, NY. Merrimack drops to 12-3 with the loss, which signals the end of its season.

In a rematch of the last three conference semifinals, the Warriors were trailing 6-4 in the third quarter, but goals from Thomas Fennel (Ridgefield, CT) and Jo Pisano (Dedham, MA) evened the score at six with 12:25 remaining in regulation.

After Long scored less than one minute later, Michael Balbuena (Falmouth, MA) tied it at seven off a turnover right in front of Bryant goaltender Michael Kennedy. Sixteen seconds later, Chris Elia (East Lyme, CT) gave Merrimack its first lead since 1-0 as he took a feed from Reid Eichelberger (Wrentham, MA) and blasted it past Kennedy for his ninth of the year.

The Warriors thought they had the game won after Corey Spinale (Wakefield, MA) robbed Kevin Hoagland with 30 seconds to play, but the Warriors launched the ball downfield turning it over to Bryant; and the Bulldogs made them pay, as Bryan Kaufmann beat Spinale with 18 seconds to play to tie the game.

Andrew Hennessey won the faceoff in overtime for Bryant and on the Bulldogs’ third shot in the extra frame, Long beat Spinale high above his stick for the game-winner.

Spinale finished with an incredible 23 saves, while Kennedy stopped 10.

On a slippery and wet field that caused 41 total turnovers, the Warriors trailed by two, 5-3 at halftime, as Spinale stopped 13 first-half shots keeping his team in the game. Kyle Beaudoin (Acton, MA) kicked off the scoring at 5:07 of the first with his 13th of the season. But Bryant came back with next four goals before Balbuena and Elia netted tallies cutting the lead to one.