Pressler Bests His U.S. Team Assistant Alberici
from press release
WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Army freshman attackman
Garrett Thul scored four goals and added an assist, but it was
visiting Bryant holding on for a 7-6 victory, Tuesday afternoon, in
lacrosse action at Michie Stadium.
Army (1-1) held a slim 4-3 lead at halftime, but the Bulldogs
(2-1) scored two unanswered goals in the third quarter to take a
5-4 lead into the final period. Thul's goal with 8:58 to play
knotted the score, 5-5, but a man-up tally by Bryant junior
midfielder Gary Crowley put the visitors up, 6-5, with 6:26
remaining. Thul once again tied the score with a goal with 2:04 to
play, but sophomore midfielder Max Weisenberg made a nice move to
get open on the right side of the crease and tucked the winning
goal into the top left corner of the net with 1:18 to play for the
victory .
"I'm really disappointed for our guys. They played really hard and
we had some good momentum going into halftime," said Army head
coach Joe Alberici. "We had a lot of costly turnovers that ended up
causing us to play a lot of defense in the third quarter and caused
the momentum to shift. We battled back and forth in the fourth
quarter and had some good opportunities, but I tip my hat to the
Bryant goalkeeper who turned in a fine performance."
In a game played on a slushy field and in a wintery mix of sleet
and rain, Bryant jumped out to a 3-1 first quarter lead. Crowley
opened the game with an unassisted tally at the 7:57 mark, before
Army junior attackman Jeremy Boltus took a feed on the run from
junior midfielder Brandon Butler and scored on an eight-yard shot
to tie the game at 3:03 of the first quarter. Consecutive Bulldog
goals by junior mIdfielder Matt Larson at 2:02 and sophomore
attackman Travis Harrington at :37 gave the visitors a two-goal
cushion heading into the second quarter.
Army would outscore Bryant 3-0 in the second quarter to build a
4-3 lead at halftime. Thul picked up a ground ball off a missed
shot behind the Bryant cage and ran forward to stuff home his first
of the day at 11:40. Following a Bryant slashing penalty, Thul
would finish off a man-up attempt from 10-yards away off a feed
from junior attackman Jeremy Boltus at the 10:04 mark. Sophomore
midfielder Devon Lynch would take a pass from Thul and score on a
15-yard laser at the 7:41 mark to give Army its first lead of the
game heading into intermission. Bryant's best scoring chance of the
quarter came at the 5:00 mark with the Black Knights going man-down
after an interference call, but Army goalkeeper Tom Palesky made a
point-blank save on a shot by Weisenberg to keep the Bulldogs off
the board for the quarter.
Bryant tried to pry away the momentum in the third quarter,
holding Army scoreless while grinding out two goals to take a 5-4
lead. Freshman attackman Peter McMahon got loose on the Army crease
and beat Palesky for a tally at 7:46, before Larson converted from
12 yards away off a feed from behind the goal from junior attackman
JK Poirier at 5:27.
Thul started the final quarter with his third goal on a low,
left-handed rip on the right side from 15 yards away at 8:58 for
the fourth of five ties in the contest, but an Army slashing
penalty would lead to a man-up tally by Crowley at 6:26 to put the
visitors back on top, 6-5.
Thul managed to bounce a shot between sophomore goalkeeper Jameson
Love's legs off Boltus' second-consecutive assist at the 2:04 mark
two even the score, 6-6, but Weisenberg's game-winner 46 seconds
later sealed the Bryant victory.
A six-save fourth quarter gave Love 13 stops for the game,
including big a man-down save in the fourth quarter following a
Bulldog interference call at 3:28.
"We battled to the end and in tight games like that, every
possession becomes magnified," continued Alberici. "We didn't lose
that game in the end. I just don't think we played the kind of Army
lacrosse in the second half that we did in the first. I give a lot
of credit to Bryant, which played hard and is well-coached. Now,
we'll regroup and get ready for Syracuse."
BLACK KNIGHT NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 10 minutes
so a pair of plows could clear the slush and snow off the field ...
Army senior midfielder Matt Poulos won nine of 12 faceoffs through
the first three quarters of play, before Bryant senior midfielder
Andrew Hennessey rebounded to win all five draws in the fourth
quarter ... Army held a 37-24 advantage in shots and kept the
Bulldogs to only 13 clears in 22 attempts for the game ... Army
defeated Bryant, 11-5, on March 4, 2009 in the first and only other
meeting between the two teams ... the game featured a matchup of
two present US National Team coaches, with head coach Mike Pressler
leading the Bulldogs and assistant coach Joe Alberici guiding the
Black Knights ... Army will head to Syracuse to take on the
two-time defending national champions this Sunday (Feb. 28) in a
5:00 p.m. faceoff in the Carrier Dome.
