Despite falling behind early, the men’s lacrosse team salvaged a 13-10 victory Saturday against a struggling Hobart College squad. Attackman Dylan Molloy ’17 turned in another stellar performance, scoring three goals and picking up seven ground balls.
The Statesmen (0-5) took an early two-point lead on a man-up goal by Matt Opsahl, making the game 3-1. The Hobart attackman later picked up an assist and scooped up a ground ball.
Molloy brought the Bears (3-1) within one, capitalizing on an assist from Kylor Bellistri ’16 to score just a minute before the end of the first quarter. The Statesmen added another goal seconds before the whistle blew, pushing their lead to 4-2.
In the second quarter, Bruno’s offense kicked in, scoring four unanswered goals.
After goals from Larken Kemp ’17 and Bailey Tills ’16 tied the game, defender JJ Ntshaykolo ’17 converted an unassisted shot on goal while the Bears were down a man. On the play, Hobart’s Cooper Stefaniak was called for an unnecessary roughness infraction while Bruno’s 30-second interference penalty expired, resulting in a two-man swing between the two teams. The swing paid dividends 10 seconds later when Will Gural ’16 struck again for the Bears, pushing the lead to 6-4.
Bruno went into the half with a 7-5 advantage. Just five seconds into the third quarter, Jordan Schochet ’15 extended the lead with an unassisted goal. Schochet had an outstanding day, winning 19 of 23 face-offs and picking up six ground balls.
“It was a huge day for him, and we fed off of his success,” Bellistri said. “It’s always great to be able to score (and) then have a face-off guy you can trust to get the ball right back.”
Following a Hobart score that brought the score to 8-6, Bruno went on a 3-0 run, capped by a goal from midfielder Tyler Landis ’15, his second of the day.
In the fourth quarter, Molloy and Brendan Caputo ’16 both scored to put Bruno out of reach. In the last 10 minutes, Hobart scored three man-up goals in a comeback effort, but it fell short as the Bears held out for the win.
Bruno was dogged by infractions most of the game. The Bears racked up 10 penalties, leaving them a man down for a total of 8:30.
“The refs were calling a tight game, but a lot of our penalties, especially in the fourth quarter, were avoidable and mistakes on our part,” said co-captain Dan Mellynchuk ’14. “We need to do a better job of keeping our composure. If the score was closer, it could have cost us the game.”
Bruno will need to play smart next week, as it opens up its Ivy League schedule with a contest at Harvard (3-2). After being held to just four goals by No. 10 University of Massachusetts at Amherst (4-1) to open the season, the Crimson have posted double-digit goal totals in each of their four games, including a 17-9 trouncing of Holy Cross (1-5).
“We are just trying to look at it one game at a time,” Bellistri said. “Our next opponent is Harvard, who are a great team. We are happy about the two wins in a row, but we’re not letting it get to our heads.”
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