Saturday, March 07, 2009
BULLDOGS OPEN SPRING BREAK ROAD TRIP WITH BOUT AGAINST FUTURE CONFERENCE RIVAL MOUNT ST. MARY'S SUNDAY AT 1 P.M.
EMMITSBURG, Md. - As it embarks this week on a nine-day, three-game Spring Break road trip, the Bryant University men's lacrosse team looks to get back on the side of winning early, opening up Sunday afternoon against future Northeast Conference opponent Mount St. Mary's at Waldron Family Stadium.
Sunday's 1 p.m. contest is the first-ever meeting between the two programs, who will join with four other NEC core members to create the Northeast Conference Lacrosse League in 2011.
"It's exciting to play a new team again, and a future NEC team that we'll be playing for years to come," said head coach Mike Pressler. "But not only is it Mount St. Mary's Sunday, it's also the start to one exciting week for the Bulldogs. We're going to play three games in eight days against three quality opponents - one conference opponent and two teams that are ranked nationally year in and year out. But it all starts with Mount St. Mary's."
Losers of two straight against highly touted opponents, the Mount enters Sunday's bout 0-2 on the year, with losses to then-No. 2 Virginia, 10-2, and a talented Navy squad, 6-2.
A pair of goals from Cody Lehrer, one coming in each contest, pace the Mountaineers on the year, while only Keith McKinley and Matt Nealis have also notched tallies for Sunday's home team. But goalie T.C. DiBartolo has faced 102 shots in just two contests, turning away 35 while allowing 16 for a respectable 8.00 goals against average.
But that doesn't mean the Bulldogs are underestimating their opponent.
"We have a lot of respect for The Mount," said Pressler. "Tom Gravante has done a great job there and I have a lot of respect for him. He is a quality man from top to bottom, and we expect a quality bout with them tomorrow."
Mount St. Mary's has proved to be the strongest in the final period, scoring three of its four goals in the final 15 while holding opponents to just three combined tallies in the last frame.
The Bulldogs arrive in Emmitsburg, Md. with a 3-2 mark on the season, having lost their last outing, 11-5, to a top-caliber Army team. Bryant will be looking to get over that defeat quickly against The Mount and get its three-game road trip started on a good note.
"We talked about it all week," Pressler said. "We kind of lost our momentum against Army and we're gonna try like heck to seize that momentum back Sunday at 1 o'clock. But we know it will certainly be a difficult task for us."
Bryant will be led by its combination of a top-tier first offensive unit in seniors Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, N.Y.), Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) and NCAA-all-time leading scorer Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.), and junior faceoff specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.), who leads the nation in faceoff percentage, at a .725 success rate. Hennessey also picks up 9.2 ground balls per outing, good for third-best nationally.
"We knew Andrew was gonna be one of the dominate guys out there, but for him to be leading the nation with the numbers he has, Andrew has without question been our MVP through the first five games of the season," said Pressler. "If he can continue his success throughout the next games here, we are going to be highly competitive."
For his fourth season, Greer is again leading the Division I ranks in goals scored with 14 on the young season, but was held to a single point against USMA, with Kaufmann scoring twice. Against Mount St. Mary's, the Bulldog offense - as well as the midfield ranks - will have to get back to fundamental and consistent lacrosse to succeed. Still, with 63 goals to its name in 2009, Bryant has the offensive ability to take over almost any game.
"The things to remember going into this game are the lessons we learned from the Army loss," said Pressler. "We did things to beat ourselves and we have to correct that. There are things we addressed, things we failed to do against Army, that we have got to turn that around tomorrow at 1 o'clock."
