SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Senior Thomas Niedringhaus scored a career-high four goals, including the overtime-winner, to lift the Boston University men's lacrosse team to a 16-15 victory over Bryant on Saturday afternoon at Beirne Stadium.

BU (1-1) trailed Bryant (1-1) by three with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation, but the Terriers scored four straight goals to take the lead with 6:28 left. After Bryant tied the game to force overtime, senior Roy Meyer forced a turnover and picked up a key ground ball on the first possession of overtime to set the stage for Niedringhaus' heroics.

Senior Vince D'Alto paced BU with six points on three goals and three assists while classmate Louis Perfetto potted two goals and added two assists. Graduate student Timmy Ley notched his second straight hat trick while classmate Matt Hilburn chipped in one goal and one assist. Senior Anthony Forziati, junior Tommy Bourque and senior Robert Gallop also found the back of the net as eight different Terriers scored a goal. Sophomore Jimmy O'Connell collected an assist for the second straight game while junior Tommy Jepson also notched an assist.

Senior Patrick Morrison recorded a career-best five caused turnovers and added a career-high six ground balls. Sophomore Trey Brown also set two new career highs with four caused turnovers and four ground balls while Meyer finished the day with six ground balls and two caused turnovers. Junior Conor Calderone went 21-for-32 at the faceoff X and gathered eight of the Terriers' 47 ground balls. BU forced 17 of the Bulldogs' 20 turnovers on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ley opened the scoring less than 3:00 into the contest before Niedringhaus doubled the lead at 10:30 of the first quarter.
• Bryant answered with two straight goals of its own to tie the game.
• Two d-middies combined for a transition goal to give BU the lead again. Senior Donnie Howard crossed midfield, and with Gallop continuing his run towards goal, hit Gallop with a pass. In one motion, Gallop caught the ball and ripped home his first goal of the season.
• After Perfetto pushed the advantage to 4-2, Bryant closed the quarter with a man-up goal before scoring the first two goals of the second stanza to take a 5-4 lead.
• Ley and Jack Lonsinger traded goals to make it a 6-5 score before BU rattled off three straight strikes, capped by Forziati's first goal of the year from a tough angle.
• BU led 8-7 at the half but Aidan Goltz brought Bryant level just 1:03 into the third.
• Niedringhaus' third of the day regained the Terriers' edge, but two Bulldog goals in a row gave them a 10-9 lead.
• Hilburn used his great hands to corral an inside feed from Perfetto and fire home his first goal of the season to even the score.
• Bryant finished the third quarter with two straight markers to create a 12-10 lead.
• D'Alto needed just 44 seconds to get BU within one after Perfetto made a great one-handed feed to his classmate as he absorbed a hit, but the Bulldogs again used a two-goal burst to stretch their lead to 14-11.
• The Terriers' four-goal run began with 8:19 remaining on a D'Alto goal.
• Bourque's first of the season made it a one-goal game before Ley took advantage of a perfect pick set by Hilburn to come from X and complete his hat trick.
• Perfetto gave BU the lead with 6:28 to go, but Lonsinger evened the score with 5:55 on the clock.
• A great defensive stand gave BU a chance to win it on the final possession of regulation, but the Terriers were unable to cash in on any of their looks.
• Bryant won the opening faceoff of overtime, but Meyer's tenacious defense got BU the ball back.
• After a timeout, Niedringhaus eventually canned the winner when he caught a feed from Hilburn and went high to high for the winner.

GAME NOTES

• Graduate student Jake Cates returned to the Terrier lineup after he missed the final month of last season and the 2023 opener due to injury.
• Forziati, who suffered a season-ending injury immediately after scoring in the Terriers' 2022 opener, found the back of the net in his 2023 debut.
• Both of the Terriers' wins at Bryant have been in overtime; they defeated the Bulldogs, 8-7, in overtime during the 2018 campaign.
• The Terriers' prolific attack trio of D'Alto, Ley and Perfetto have all recorded six goals this season, with D'Alto and Perfetto adding two assists to lead BU with eight points through two games.
• Meyer leads BU with seven caused turnovers and 14 ground balls through two games.
• Morrison has recorded six caused turnovers and added 10 ground balls in his two starts at close defense this year.
• The Terriers have outscored their opponents, 11-4, in the fourth quarter this season.

UP NEXT

• BU will conclude its three-game road trip when the Terriers trek to UMass on Saturday, Feb. 25.