A potent offense helped the men's lacrosse team get back on track Saturday with an 11-3 road victory over St. Joseph's. The Bears (2-2) scored 10 unanswered goals to start the game, and a strong defensive display prevented any chance of a comeback for the Hawks (2-4). The win gives the squad momentum as it heads into next weekend's Ivy League opener against No. 20 Harvard.
Eight minutes into the first quarter, the Bears drew first blood. Attackman Sam Hurster '14 scored the first of his three goals on an unassisted play to give Bruno the 1-0 lead.
Hurster's goal opened the floodgates, and three more goals in the next five minutes put the Bears up 4-0 by the end of the first.
"The first couple of games, especially the scrimmages in the fall, we came out a little flat," Hurster said. "It was great to come out hot. That was the main thing we were focused on."
Bruno continued to find a way through the Hawks defense in the second. Dan O'Brien '12 finished off a feed from co-captain Rob Schlesinger '12 six minutes into the quarter to extend the lead to 5-0. A flurry of goals followed, as Nick Piroli '15, George Sherman '13, Stephen Chmil '14 and Hurster all ripped twine to give Bruno a commanding 9-0 lead at the half.
"If you look at our first game against Quinnipiac, the scoring was spread out," Hurster said. "That's definitely something we're pushing towards in the future, to get as many scorers in our offense as possible."
Hurster completed his hat trick just 12 seconds into the third quarter. But the Hawks would not be shut out, outshooting Bruno 11-6 in the quarter, netting two back-to-back goals to get on the score sheet 10-2.
But a second goal from O'Brien with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter squashed any hopes of a Hawk comeback as Bruno went up 11-2.
Despite outshooting the Bears again in the fourth, the Hawks could only manage one more goal, and Bruno came away with the 11-3 victory.
The Bears will hit the road to play their first Ivy League game against rival Harvard (2-2) next Saturday. The matchup is crucial for Bruno as the team looks to get off to a good start in league play.
"We're going to grind in practice all week, and we're going to push each other," Hurster said. "We have yet to play a complete game, and in order to beat a good team, you have to play 60 minutes of good lacrosse."
ADVERTISEMENT
