For the second week in a row, both the women and men’s lacrosse teams were victorious in early-season action. The men defeated Bryant University at home, while the women took down Villanova on the road.

The men trailed most of the game, in similar fashion to their first game against Delaware, but came back fighting in the fourth quarter to pull out a win. Bryant held an 8-5 lead late in the third quarter, but Tommy O’Connor ’17 scored four goals to shift the momentum and put the Orange and Blue back in the game.

Goalie Christian Klipstein ’19 delivered a standout performance, making a clutch shin save to deny Bryant’s attempt with 1:50 remaining. As the Bison gained possession again, Will Sands ’18 found Connor O’Hara ’18 with 11 seconds left to score and win 9-8. The Bison have been dominant in second halves this season, outscoring their opponents 7-1 in the fourth quarter of their first two contests.

The women took down the Wildcats 10-6 on the road as they improved their overall record to 2-0. Villanova took a 2-3 lead early in the game. Audrey Walsh ’19, Courtney Burke ’17, and Eve Lukowski ’18 put the Bison back on top, as they went on a 6-0 run and never looked back. On the offensive end, Lukowski tallied a career-high five goals, while Mary Margaret Kenney ’18 and Katherine Doyle ’18 led the defense with four ground balls and three draw controls, respectively.

“We are really excited about this start to our season. We have placed an emphasis on connecting both halves of the game and accomplished that against Villanova. Although we have two great wins under our belt, we know where we have come from and how much our program has grown and developed over the past two years. Our motto is to stay humble and be hungry. That’s the mentality we have going into the rest of the season and we’re excited to keep this momentum,” Doyle said.

With the wins, both the men and women improve their records to 2-0 on the season. Both teams look to improve their winning records on Feb. 18 at home. The men’s team will take on Fairfield University at 11:30 a.m. and the women will face off against Hofstra University at 3 p.m.