WESTON, Mass. – Bryn Athyn College held off a late push from Regis College to hang on for a 12-8 victory over the Pride on Saturday morning in non-conference men's lacrosse action. The Lions pick up their first win of the year and move to 1-0, while the Pride drops to 2-1.
Bryn Athyn scored the first three goals of the game to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. Ryan Landels (Coldstream, B.C.), Connor Buick (Coldstream, B.C.), and Christian Blair (Bryn Athyn, Pa.) each scored unassisted goals. The Pride closed the gap with back-to-back goals from Nick Dallas (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Alex Ferran (Miami, Fla.). Both players scored while taking on their defenders one-on-one and firing low shots past the keeper.
Regis rookie Collin Spillane (Franklin, Mass.) knotted the game at 3-all as he took a pass from Grant Nordlund (Miami, Fla.) for a quick shot right in front of the net to open the second quarter. Nearly a minute later, Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) scored on the man advantage on a pass from Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) to give Regis a short-lived 4-3 lead.
Christian Blair answered for the visitors only 30 seconds after Rodrigo put them ahead after taking the groundball off a face-off win and cranked a shot past the Regis keeper to tie the game at 4-4. Nolan Frame (Coldstrem, B.C.) put the Lions in front before the half after receiving a pass from Andrew Coyle (Philadelphia, Pa.) for a shot at the goal mouth to go on top, 5-4.
The Pride tied the game in the opening 21 seconds of the third quarter as Rodrigo found Nordlund in front of the net. Nordlund never turned toward the goal, and instead fired a no-look shot over his right shoulder that found the back of the goal.
Coyle answered with his first goal of the game, and sparked a 5-1 run for the Lions that ended the period. Coyle added one more during the run, while Connor Buick also recorded his second tally. Nolan Frame rounded out the scoring in the period with two goals – including one as time expired on the period – to give Bryn Athyn a 10-6 lead headed into the final quarter.
The Pride started to claw back when Calvin Brault (Colchester, Vt.) entered the scoring column on a feed from Andrew O'Reilly (Hollis, N.H.) to cut it to 10-7. O'Reilly then found Nordlund at the top of box, and the freshman fired a groundball shot that trickled past the keeper and made it a 10-8 game. Rodrigo had a chance to pull within one goal, but he was stoned by Robert Moran (Ambler, Pa.) on the fastbreak with 3:37 to play.
Connor Buick ended the rally as the freshman netted two goals in the final three minutes of play to give the Lions the 12-8 victory.
Regis outshot Bryn Athyn at a 43-34 clip and also held a 30-28 advantage in groundballs. Both teams committed plenty of turnovers as the Pride committed 22 and Bryn Athyn added 23 of their own. Regis was efficient on clears, going 15-for-16, while Bryn Athyn was just as good, going 20-of-23 on their attempts.
The goalies for both teams played well as Robert Moran made 17 saves in the win and outdueled D.J. Barrile (Medford, Mass.), who made 13 saves in the setback.
Jack O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) had another dominating day in the face-off circle, winning 17-of-22 face-offs and adding four groundballs. In addition to a pair of assists, O'Reilly added a game-high seven groundballs. Josh Bazail (Miami, Fla.) added four groundballs of his own to go with a caused turnover. Mike Emanuelson (Silver Lake, N.H.) led the defense with three caused turnovers.
Connor Buick ended the day with four goals, an assist, five groundballs, and a pair of caused turnovers. Andrew Coyle added two goals, three assists, and a pair of groundballs for Bryn Athyn, while Nolan Frame had a hat trick and three groundballs. Christian Blair also scored twice and had four groundballs and two caused turnovers.
The Pride are back in action on Monday night when they host Wheelock College at 5:00 p.m. Bryn Athyn will host Immaculata next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.