March 22, 2008

TOP-RANKED DOLPHINS CLAMP DOWN ON DEFENSE TO DROP NO. 7 BULLDOGS, 8-3

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team, ranked No. 1 in the USILA Poll, powered past No. 7 Bryant University in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Niland Athletic Complex behind Mike McDonald's four goals and a solid defensive effort. The Dolphins (4-0, 1-0 NE-10) allowed only four first-half shots. The Bulldogs (3-3, 0-1 NE-10) scored the game's first goal but fell in a hole after allowing five straight Le Moyne scores.

Bryant, who snapped Le Moyne's 70-game Northeast-10 Conference winning streak last season, took the lead on a Bryan Kaufmann goal five minutes in. The Bulldogs defense kept the Dolphins scoreless until McDonald netted his first goal of the game on a pass from Keith Vetter with 57 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Shortly after, at the 14:20 of the second quarter, Vetter fed Brian Cost to give Le Moyne a lead it would not relinquish. Both teams remained scoreless for the final 14 minutes of the first half. Tim McLean and Drew Bezek anchored a defensive effort that failed to allow a Bulldog shot for the entire fourth quarter.

The game remained a defensive battle until McDonald rattled off three straight tallies in the third quarter. The senior scored back-to-back goals on assists from Alex Bily and Cost, respectively, to push Le Moyne's lead to 4-1. With 50 seconds left in the third quarter, McDonald converted a Brooks Robinson pass into his fourth goal of the game to give the Dolphins a quick four-goal advantage. The Bulldogs responded with 19 seconds left in the quarter on a score from the stick of Evan Roberts.

Nick Gatto netted three fourth-quarter goals preserve the Dolphin victory. Gatto scored a man-up goal on an assist from Tom Donahue, added an unassisted goal and wrapped up the Le Moyne offensive attack with a score in the game's final minute. Kaufmann scored his second goal of the game for Bryant midway through the fourth quarter.

McDonald (4 goals), Gatto (3 goals) and Cost (1 goal) accounted for all of Le Moyne's scoring. The trio makes up Le Moyne's season scoring leaders. McDonald has 12 goals and five assists, Cost has eight goals and four assists and Gatto has seven goals and one assist on the campaign.

Doug McIver played all 60 minutes in goal, accumulating eight saves. The game marked the third time in four games this season that McIver allowed three or fewer goals. His goals against average stands at 3.18 on the season.

Le Moyne plays its fifth consecutive opponent ranked in the Top 10 of the USILA Division II Poll when it hosts No. 6 Merrimack (3-0, 1-0 NE-10) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Northeast-10 Conference action.

Le Moyne 8  Bryant 3

SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Bryant..............  1  0  1  1 -  3
Le Moyne............  1  1  3  3 -  8

Bryant SCORING: GOALS: Bryan Kaufmann 2; Evan Roberts 1.
ASSISTS: Kevin Hoagland 1; Matt McKeefrey 1.

Le Moyne SCORING: GOALS: Mike McDonald 4; Nick Gatto 3; Brian Cost 1.
ASSISTS: Keith Vetter 2; Alex Bily 1; Brian Cost 1; Tom Donahue 1;
Mike McDonald 1; Brooks Robinson 1.

Michael Bersani - Sports Information Assistant