BY TYLER MILLIKEN // April 19, 2017 //

The men’s lacrosse team overwhelmed the Dean College Bulldogs, dominating time of possession and shots en route to a 15-7 non-conference win at the Walter M. Katz Field.

On a windy, spring night, both sidelines were brimming with energy before the opening whistle even blew. However, it was the Colonels’ constant pressure from the get co that put the Bulldogs down early and set the tone for the rest of the game.

Curry’s physicality highlighted the first few minutes of play with 6’ 3” sophomore defenseman Dakota Sanders delivering huge hits all over the field on a few different Dean Defenders.

Senior Jack McMenomey put the Colonels on the board first with a bounce-shot after sophomore Devin Newell placed a perfect pass in front of the net with 10:51 remaining in the opening quarter.

By the end of the first quarter, Curry owned a 4-2 advantage thanks to the offense’s seamless communication. Once the second quarter started, the Colonels began feeding their scorers with multiple shot opportunities on each drive.

Curry was able to net a trio of goals before halftime to extend their lead to 7-4. The Bulldogs continued to scratch their way back but were failing to successfully move the ball.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Colonels’ persistent attack finally toppled the Dean Defenses.

Curry registered three goals in third before adding another fistful in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs failed to match the Colonels’ firepower and could not keep up with the parade of shots finding the back of the net. Only three more shots found twine for Dean over the final two frames.

Junior Matt Serra leads the team with 28 Goals through 15 games. Photo Credit: Curry College Athletics

Most of the fourth quarter was all academic with the margin being too much for the Bulldogs to overcome. McMenomey and classmate Brandon Flaim secured their hat tricks in the third and fourth quarter respectively, pushing their goal totals to 25 and 11 each.

Junior Matt Serra also registered his second point of the game in the final frame, grabbing his 100^th career point with a goal on the man-advantage.

Once the clock ran out, the final score read 15-7 and the final shot chart had Curry outshooting Dean by a 54-30 gap.

It marked an important win for the Colonels, who improved their record to 9-6 overall.

After picking up the victory, Newell described the team’s mentality heading into a non-conference competition like this one.

“These types of games just have to be treated like a conference game,” Newell explained. “We seem to do pretty well because we keep the right mindset. It’s just a big mental thing.”

Coming off a big team win, Flaim reiterated that the squad has but one goal with only two games left before tournament time.

“We’re focused on heading into the playoffs. We need one more win in our conference to get home field advantage,” Flaim noted.

While looking ahead to that tournament play, Head Coach Tim Murphy explained the mindset he wants his players to get into.

“We just need to have some fun,” Murphy remarked. “That’s the name of the game for us heading down the stretch. It’s important for the guys to remember why they want to play this game.”

Curry gets to have some more fun this Saturday as they travel to Newport, R.I. to face off against the Salve Regina Seahawks for a Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup starting at noon.