BULLDOGS GET SET TO OPEN TOUGHEST STRETCH OF SEASON SATURDAY AGAINST NO. 17/17 STONY BROOK
March 26, 2010
BULLDOGS GET SET TO OPEN TOUGHEST STRETCH OF SEASON SATURDAY AGAINST NO. 17/17 STONY BROOK
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men’s lacrosse team opens up its most challenging stretch of the year Saturday afternoon when its hosts No. 17/17 Stony Brook at the Bryant Turf Complex. Saturday’s contest will kick off a 15-day, four-game run that will pit the Bulldogs against two nationally ranked opponents and a future Northeast Conference rival that is receiving votes in both national polls.
The Bulldogs (5-2) look to start the stretch out right Saturday against the 17th-ranked Seawolves (4-3) on friendly home territory, but will have to face one of the nation’s most potent offenses – one that features two of the country’s top-5 point getters as well as the nation’s leading goal scorer.
“This Seawolves offense is as talented a group as we’ll see the entire season,” said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. “They are averaging 15+ goals per game in seven contests and they attack you in a variety of different ways offensively. That’s the reason that they score to the teens week in and week out.”
As a team, Stony Brook’s 15.33 goals per game and 24.17 points per game rank second and third in Division I, respectively, and that offense is led by juniors Jordan McBride and Kevin Crowley, who sit third (5.33) and fourth (5.00) in points per outing through March 21. McBride’s 4.33 goals per contest lead the nation while Crowley chips in 3.17 tallies per game, good for ninth. Senior Tom Compitello can also cause problems for the Bryant defense, as he is among the nation’s top-10 scorers as well, adding 4.67 points per contest (T-8th) with 2.50 assists per game, tying him for fifth among all DI players.
“McBride and Crowley are as good of offensive players as there are in Division I lacrosse,” said Pressler, “but their supporting cast is as high-quality as there is as well.”
McBride’s .542 shot percentage (No. 9 nationally) leads the Seawolves to the No. 1 rating for team shot percentage, topping the charts at a .391 clip, and they are even more dangerous in man-up situations, scoring on 57.1 percent of all extra-man opportunities (No. 4).
Defensively, Steven Waldeck leads Stony Brook with 2.33 caused turnovers per game and 7.33 ground balls per outing, both good for spots in the top-10, and paces the Seawolves to a 10th-place national ranking in the latter category.
At the faceoff X, junior Evan Roberts (West Cornwall, Vt.) will have his hands full with Adam Rand, who posts a ninth-best .604 faceoff win percentage and takes the majority of faceoff opportunities for Seawolves, who are fifth as a team in the category. But Roberts, whose .679 winning percentage ranks him second in the country, leads the Bulldogs to a .696 team faceoff clip, good for tops in the nation. Still, Rand grabs 5.00 ground balls per game (16th nationally) and should be a good test for Bryant’s junior midfielder.
“In addition to McBride and Crowley, what makes Stony Brook such a tough team offensively is that they win faceoffs,” said Pressler. “And because they win at the X, they have the ball a lot more in the offensive end.”
Senior Charlie Paar protects the nets for the Seawolves and boasts a .538 save percentage, helping his team to win by a 3.83-goal margin, 10th best in Division I.
“This is a game where our entire team – in all the things that we do – must support each other defensively,” said Pressler. “We have to win our share of the faceoffs, we have to play smartly and efficiently in our half-field offense and we have to limit the touches we allow their key players.”
But the competition doesn’t stop at the final whistle Saturday. After a six-day hiatus, the Bulldogs will open up a three-game road trip over the course of eight days that is highlighted by a rematch with No. 13/15 Brown and the first-ever matchup with future NEC foe Robert Morris University, who has been ranked throughout the 2010 season and is currently receiving votes in both polls.
But first, the Black and Gold will take on a local rival in a Providence College side that is still in search of its first win of the season entering the last weekend in March.
The Friars (0-5) are led by Evan Helda, whose five goals and five points lead PC after five games this season. Colin Tigh’s trio of assists are a team-best for the Friars, while 10 players have notched goals on the year. Top goalie Frank Cicero posts a .508 save percentage, despite his team getting outscored, 60-19, on the year.
“Providence will be an exciting game for us because it’s the first-ever against our local and newest rival,” said Pressler. “Down the road, we hope the Bryant-Brown-Providence College rivalry will create a lot of local interest in Rhode Island lacrosse.”
Bryant and Providence will face off Saturday, April 3 at 2 p.m.
And with just a three-day turnaround, the Bulldogs will return to the field on April 6 to play another in-state rival in a tough nationally ranked Brown side on the road.
The Bears (3-2) feature a seventh-ranked scoring offense that averages 14 goals per game and an even 23 points per contest (No. 6) through March 21. Junior Andrew Feinberg leads No. 13/15 Brown with 15 goals and 17 points and is one of six Bears with double-digit point totals. Reade Seligmann is tied for 16th nationally, averaging a pair of assists per game to lead Brown to a No. 4 national ranking in helpers per contest.
The Bears are deadly with an extra man, ranked third in the country after scoring seven man-up goals in 12 attempts for a 58.3 percent success rate. The Ivy Leaguers also sit in seventh in shot percentage (.354).
Conversely, Brown is tough on the defensive when playing in man-down situations, keeping opponents to just above a 30-percent success rate and having allowed only four man-up goals in 13 attempts, good for 16th in the nation.
The Bears value the ball more than nearly every other team when it is in their possession, averaging the second fewest turnovers per game in the nation at just 12.25 per outing. Brown boasts victories over Harvard, St. Joe’s and Hartford entering its final game in March and wins by a 3.50 scoring margin (T-12th).
“We’ve been fortunate to see Brown in action live this year and even though they’ve lost some marquee players to graduation, Brown will again be a top-15 team, if not better, at the end of the season,” said Pressler. “They have two or three starting attackmen back in Muldoon and Feinberg, and we know those guys well and what they can do. With Seligmann back in the midfield and Fallon back on defense, they have four legitimate All-American candidates.”
The Bulldogs will wrap up their toughest stretch of the season on April 10, when they travel to Moon Township, Pa. for their first meeting against a future conference opponent in Robert Morris.
The Colonials (5-2) have had an impressive season so far, enjoying a national ranking has high as No. 19 during the 2010 campaign. RMU is led by the nation’s No. 6-ranked scorer in junior Trevor Moore, who averages 4.71 goals per game entering the final week of March action. Moore is also tied for 22nd with 2.57 goals per contest and sits at No. 14 in assists per game with 2.14.
With 33 points on the year, he leads four Colonials with 20+ points and four with double-digit goal tallies, numbers that earn Robert Morris the top spot in scoring offense among all Division I teams (15.86 goals per game). RMU is second in the nation in points per game (24.71) and fifth in assists per outing (8.86).
Corbyn Tao-Brambleby paces the Colonials with a .531 shot percentage (No. 11 nationally) and the team as a whole ranks sixth in the category (.358). Robert Morris also leads the nation in man-up offense, converting 21 extra-man opportunities into 14 tallies so far this year.
“There is no doubt that Robert Morris has gained a lot of notoriety in this early season, especially offensively,” Pressler said. “Wins over Ohio State and Penn State have certainly been impressive. At the end of a challenging road trip and with this being our first time ever against our new NEC rival, all these factors will make this game something very difficult, especially on the road.”
Defensively, Robert Morris causes 9.43 turnovers per game, good for 14th, and is led by Jordon Sealock’s two caused turnovers per game. On the other side of things, the Colonials also tend to the ball well, ranking 14th in team turnovers with just 16.14 giveaways per game. Mike Grosz picks up 4.57 ground balls per outing while posting a 25th-ranked .542 faceoff winning percentage, leading the Colonials to a No. 7 ranking in ground balls per contest (36.43).
Robert Morris has gotten big wins over such opponents as Ohio State, VMI, Penn State and Mount St. Mary’s, and has outscored its competition, 111-87.
And while the Bulldogs haven’t been putting up huge
numbers on the offensive end, their 17-goal outburst against Wagner
a week ago will certainly help the team’s confidence in
finding the back of the net when it matters most.
“We kind of found ourselves in the Bellarmine game but have leveled off a bit since,” said Pressler of his team. “At times we have four if not five freshmen playing in the top six offensively, so at times as coaches we have to be patient and just know that our ability to put the ball in the goal will improve over time.”
And the offense can count on Roberts at the faceoff to continue his stellar job at the X in getting the ball back for the Black and Gold.
“Evan Roberts has exceeded all of our expectations in replacing Andrew Hennessey,” Pressler said. “In the three games since he has assumed the faceoff/get-off type of role, Evan has been outstanding. He is winning at a rate of just under 70 percent, and if he can maintain that type of momentum through this four-game stretch, our chances of being successful will have increased dramatically.”
Behind Roberts is also one of the nation’s best back lines, one that is first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just five goals per game. That defense is anchored by senior defenseman Matt Murnane (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and sophomore goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.).
With 4.86 ground balls per game, Murnane is ranked 19th in the nation entering Saturday’s game against Stony Brook, and with 2.86 caused turnovers per outing, he sits in second among all Division I competition. Behind him, Love boasts two first-place national rankings, remaining tops in the country in goals against average (4.89) and save percentage (.685) for the second-straight week.
“Through seven games, Jameson has been so consistent,” said Pressler. “Sometimes you worry about your goalie, even as a sophomore, having those highs and those bottoming-out lows, but Jameson has been good to very good in all seven of his starts.
“As I’ve said before and will continue to say, Matt Murnane is as fine a defenseman as I’ve ever seen or coached in his ability to put the ball on the ground, pick it up and make all the uncanny plays he makes with his stick,” Pressler continued. “Matt’s going to draw the best attackmen each time out during this stretch and we are counting on him, as he has over the last seven games, to rise to the occasion and accept that challenge.”
The Bulldogs as a team are nationally ranked in eight different categories, including scoring defense (No. 1), faceoff percentage (No. 1), man-down defense (tied at No. 4), caused turnovers per game (No. 8) and ground balls per game (No. 18).
* All statistics, rankings and records are through March 26, 2010