Emmitsburg, Md. (April 18, 2015)--The Mount St. Mary's University men's lacrosse team saw its second-half comeback come up short in an 8-6 loss to visiting Bryant in a Northeast Conference matchup at Waldron Family Stadium.  The Mountaineers cut a three-goal second-half deficit to one, but Bryant was able to hold on for the win.

Bryant (6-8, 4-2 NEC) started the game quickly, taking a 4-0 lead after one quarter of play.  Tucker James and Brian Schlansker each scored twice in the opening period while Bryant goalkeeper Gunnar Waldt made four saves.  The Bulldogs scored three times in the final 2:17 of the first quarter, including a James goal with 0.9 seconds left on the clock.

Mount St. Mary's (4-9, 1-4 NEC) fought back in the second quarter on goals from Mark Hojnoski (West Springfield, Mass.) and Justin Gosnell (Aberdeen, Md.) to cut the deficit to 4-2 at the half.

The offense picked up in the third quarter as the teams combined for six goals in the opening eight minutes of the second half.  Bryant took advantage of a pair of extra-man opportunites for two of their three scores.  The second one by Shane Morell with 8:00 left in the third gave his team a 7-4 advantage.  Hojnoski countered with his second goal of the game just 52 seconds later to cut the Mount's deficit to 7-5 heading to the final quarter.

The scored remained 7-5 until Gosnell found Christian Durham (Quincy, Mass.), who connected for his second goal of the season with 7:51 left to make it a 7-6 game. 

The Mountaineers had several chances to tie the game, including a Robert Jones (Riva, Md.) shot that hit the pipe, with 5:26 left.  Mount goalkeeper Matt Vierheller (Forest Hill, Md.) had two saves in the final seven minutes to keep the Mount in the game.  Mount St. Mary's, however, turned the ball over with just over three minutes left, and Bryant was able to posses the ball for the majority of that time, clinching the win on a Collins Gantz goal into an empty net with 19 seconds left as the Mount was double-teaming trying to ge the ball back.

Hojnoski had two goals to lead the Mount offense while Gosnell chipped in a goal and an assist.  Durham, Bubba Johnson (Wyoming, Del.) and Evan Gormley (Mentor, Ohio) also scored in the game for the Mountaineers.  Vierheller made nine saves while Johnson and Kyle O'Brien (Arnold, Md.) each had a pair of caused turnovers.

Morrell, James and Schlansker each scored twice for Bryant while Waldt had 12 saves in the win.

Mount St. Mary's held a 36-30 edge in shots and committed 12 turnovers compared to 21 by the Bulldogs.  Bryant won 12-of-17 face-offs and had a 30-26 edge in ground balls.

Despite the loss, the Mount's playoff hopes were kept alive by Sacred Heart's 9-8 win at Wagner.  To reach the NEC Tournament, the Mountaineers need to win at Hobart while having Saint Joseph's defeat Sacred Heart next Saturday.

Mount St. Mary's visits Hobart on Saturday, April 26, for a 1:00 p.m. matchup.

--Mount St. Mary's University Athletics--