By Max Sass, Sports Editor
The University’s men’s lacrosse team evened up their record on Saturday, March 6, defeating no. 19 Brown University 15-12 at Shuart Stadium. The Pride received three goals and two assists from junior attack Stephen Bentz in the team’s first home game of the season. “The first game jitters weren’t there,” said Head Coach Seth Tierney. “The home field advantage was there.”
In their previous game at Princeton, the Pride conceded three early goals to the Tigers. This game was drastically different as the Pride held Brown scoreless for over 13 minutes and only one goal was scored between the two teams in the first quarter. “We peppered them early,” Tierney said. “I mean, we had a ton of opportunities. We thought we played our best offense in the first quarter and we didn’t reap the benefits.”
Much of the offense was expected to come from junior attack men Jay Card and Jamie Lincoln, affectionately known as the “Ontario Onslaught.” The pair did not put up gaudy numbers, scoring just one goal each, but Bentz was able to contribute the majority of the offense up front. The midfield also scored 10 goals for the Pride, a statistic Tierney was most pleased about. “To get 10 goals from our midfield and five goals from the attack with the defense that Brown was well done,” said Tierney.
Much speculation prior to the game was centered on who would be the starting goalie for the Pride. Last year’s starter, now sophomore Andrew Gvozden split the Princeton game with freshman Rob Bellairs. Tierney made the decision to start Bellairs in the matchup with Brown and Bellairs recorded his first career win. “Right now we are going to stay with Rob barring anything crazy going on,” Tierney said.
“It was hard, it wasn’t an easy decision,” said Tierney. “There was a slight comfort level with Rob outside the goal and in some of the clearing situations.” Bellairs finished the game with seven saves.
The Pride decreased their goals allowed from 17 against Princeton to 12 against Brown, but defense continues to be an issue for the Pride. Seniors Reade Seligman and Thomas Muldoon combined to score seven goals and five assists between them for the Bears.
Despite the low scoring first quarter, the Pride rallied in the second 15 minutes to take a 6-3 lead into the half. All three Bentz goals were before halftime and he was joined on the scoreboard early by senior middie Dan Stein, junior middie Mike DeNapoli and freshman middie Adrian Sorichetti.
The Pride outshot the Bears 39-30 and won 14 more ground balls than Brown did in the game. The Pride completes a three game stretch against ranked opponents on Saturday when they host the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins. The no. 7 Blue Jays will faceoff against no. 10 Hofstra at 7 p.m. at James Shuart Stadium.
Johns Hopkins is the Pride’s last opportunity to play a team currently ranked in the top 10 in the regular season, but Tierney, a Johns Hopkins grad and former assistant coach is downplaying the much-anticipated matcup. “Hopkins is a big game just because it is the next game, not because it is Johns Hopkins or anything else,” Tierney said.
