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Men's lacrosse beats Friars, falls to Big Red

Nick Piroli ’15 scored a winning shot Tuesday and Alex Jones '13 tallied a hat trick Saturday

The men’s lacrosse team defeated Providence College in an Ocean State Cup game Tuesday but fell to No. 7 Cornell Saturday afternoon in an important conference matchup.

Saturday’s loss removes Brown (6-6, 1-4 Ivy) from Ivy League Tournament contention — though Alex Jones ’13 brightened the mood on Senior Day with a hat trick in his final game at Stevenson Field. Nick Piroli’s ’15 game-winning goal and goalie Will Round’s ’14 strong play down the stretch ensured the lone Bruno victory.

 

Brown 7, Providence 6

After Henry Blynn ’16 put Bruno up 6-4 at the end of the third quarter, Greg Fitzmaurice tallied two of his own to tie the game at six. Just eight seconds later, Piroli fired a goal past Providence keeper Jack Connelly at 8:07 for the game-winner.

“It was really exciting,” said Head Coach Lars Tiffany ’90. “We haven’t scored a lot of goals directly off the face-off, so it was great to do that to win the game.”

Round did the rest for the Bears. Stepping into the starting role just a week ago, the goalie faced a barrage of 14 shots in the fourth quarter from the Friars (8-7), stopping all six shots on goal.

“We leaned on ... Round to make a lot of saves, and he did,” Tiffany said. “He had an outstanding performance. He’s had to split time this year, but he’s really looking great, making saves in the games he’s played in.”

Tiffany said he counted eight saves made by Round on game film — two more than the official record.

Though Bruno never trailed in the contest, it never led by more than two. Blynn and Tim Jacob ’15 added two goals each in Bruno’s winning effort.

“It was one of those games where we walked away happy that we won, but not happy with how we performed, especially late in the game,” Tiffany said. “We had five turnovers in the fourth quarter, and we didn’t show a lot of poise with a one-goal lead.”

The Bears and the Friars exchanged goals in the first quarter. Jacob and Brendan Caputo ’16 each scored, and the period ended in a 2-2 tie. Blynn and Sam Hurster ’14 each scored goals in the second frame, giving Brown a 4-2 lead heading into the break.

Jacob and Blynn both found the back of the net for the second time in the third quarter, increasing the Brown lead to 6-4.

 

Cornell 13, Brown 7

The Big Red (11-2, 5-0) claimed possession of the Ivy League regular season championship Saturday with a victory over the Bears on Senior Day. With two goals in 27 seconds to end the third quarter, Cornell attacker Rob Pannell became the Ivy League’s all-time leading scorer.

“We ran into a great program,” Tiffany said. “We ran into a team that just does not make mistakes.”

Before the game, Brown honored its seniors: Jones, Obafemi Alese ’13, Clay Del Prince ’13, Johnny DePeters ’13, Roger Ferguson ’13, Sam Ford ’13, Shane McHugh ’13 and George Sherman ’13.

“I really love them for how much heart they have poured into this program for four years,” Tiffany said. “Here we are on Spring Weekend. Much of the campus is relaxing and celebrating the closer we get to graduation, but our guys are still battling hard.”

The celebratory mood quickly faded for the Bears when Cornell jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Jones and Hurster each had a goal before halftime, but Cornell added three more, making the score 6-2 in favor of the Big Red.

Before the final buzzer, Jones scored twice more. Ford and Bailey Tills ’16 also put points on the board, but the late offense was not enough to overcome Cornell’s strong play.

Despite the high score, Round played well once again for the Bears — stopping 16 Cornell shots on goal. Overall, the Big Red outshot Bruno 47-32. The Bears also lost the face-off battle 19-5 in what has become a major problem for the team this year.

Bruno will try to capture the Ocean State Cup with a win over Bryant (5-9) Tuesday evening. The Bears will finish their season Saturday on the road against Dartmouth (3-9, 1-4).

“It’s important how we play this week, even though the playoff goals are gone,” Tiffany said. “It’s important for our seniors, and it’s important for how we move forward next year.”

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