SMITHFIELD, R.I. – A goal and two assists were all Bryant University men's lacrosse senior Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) needed to match the NCAA Division I all-time points scored record, and that's exactly what he did Wednesday night as the Bulldogs took a 13-3 win over Holy Cross in their 2009 season finale at the Bryant Turf Complex.

Nine seniors played in their final contest as Bryant wrapped up a successful inaugural Division I season with an impressive 10-5 overall record. Senior Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) led the scoring with five points off four goals and an assist while linemate and fellow senior Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) added a trio of goals and an assist of his own, guiding Bryant to a victory on Senior Night. Sophomore Matt Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) also had a big game on offense, recording a trio of unassisted tallies in the winning effort.

"There are so many mixed emotions here," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "It was such a great ride. To think about where we came from at the beginning of the year versus Virginia and to go through those 15 games and end the season at 10-5 overall just exceeded our expectations in so many ways.

"And to see the Class of '09 go out on top – a group that led us in so many ways – we're just so proud of them," he continued. "They leave Bryant University, those nine seniors, with a great, great legacy."

But in the final game of the season for both teams, it was the Crusaders (3-12) who came out to play early, recording their first goal just 10 seconds into the contest, a rebound goal by Colin Flood, to take a quick 1-0 lead.

"It was really something different to have somebody kinda pop it forward and get a break against us on the faceoff," said Pressler, who isn't used to losing many faceoffs with top specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.) at the X. "But 60 minutes is an eternity so once we settled down we certainly played better."

It would take the Bulldogs 4:04 to respond, and the response came from an unusual place – starting defenseman Matt Murnane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.).

With just under 11 minutes to play in the first quarter, Murnane intercepted a Holy Cross pass in the defensive zone, carrying the ball all the way downfield to bounce in a goal past Crusaders netminder Jimmy Harrison (15 saves), scoring his first career tally to even the score at 1-1.

"Matt's got the capability to score," Pressler said. "He's arguably our best defensemen in so many ways, but to see Matt get a great interception and run down the field and score – it was no surprise to us that he was capable of doing that."

The score would stay knotted through the end of the first period, but Bryant would open up in the second frame, scoring four-straight goals in the first six minutes.

After Matt Tyburski (Mendham, N.J.) picked up a ground ball on a Holy Cross turnover, the senior came into the offensive zone, passing the ball off to Kaufmann on the left side, who opened the scoring drive with a tally less than two minutes into the frame.

Back-to-back goals from Hoagland followed – the first one man-up and assisted by Greer for his 351st career and first point of the night – within a minute of each other, giving the home side a 4-1 advantage.

Exactly 60 seconds later, Greer turned his defenseman inside for a side netting goal, notching his only tally of the game and moving just one point shy of tying the record of ex-teammate Matt Danowski.

Flood answered Greer's goal for the Crusaders, scoring man-up and even-strength goals in the final three minutes of the half to close the gap to 5-3. But Hoagland and Greer weren't ready to retire to the locker room quite yet.

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2009-04-23