#18/20 Bryant takes on Monmouth Tuesday at 3 p.m.

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – After topping its second ranked opponent of the year and earning its first national ranking of the season this week, the No. 18/20 Bryant University men's lacrosse team faces off against a brand new opponent in a midweek matchup against Monmouth University Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs (3-2) take on the Hawks (0-4), who play in their first varsity season in 2014 as a member of the MAAC. Tuesday's hosts are looking for their first victory of the season against the Black and Gold but are coming off strong outings against UMBC (10-8 loss), St. Joseph's (11-6) and Wagner (7-6 OTL).

"We are very impressed, watching them on tape, with how organized Monmouth is," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "Coach Fisher has done a great job coaching this team through the first four games of their careers, and we are excited to get on the road early in Spring Break to play the first of our four midweek games here in the 2014 season."

Monmouth has seen goals from eight different sources over its first four games, including four markers apiece from Chris Daly, Dan Bloodgood and Tyler Keen. Daly paces the team with six points and has the team's only man-up goal of the season.

At the faceoff, the Hawks have relied on a pair of freshmen in Andrew Grajewski (8-of-34) and Duncan Campbell (11-of-45), while longstick midfielder Neil Ruppert leads the way in ground balls with 10. Between the pipes, Nick Hreshko had earned all four starting nods, but Garrett Conaway has seen slightly more minutes than his counterpart en route to a 9.71 goals against average and .593 save percentage with 32 stops. Hreshko has posted a GAA of 13.00, stopping 50 percent of the shots that he's seen (26 saves). Both goalies are 0-2 on the year.

The Bulldogs will counter with an offense that is finding its rhythm behind a stellar outing against then-No. 17 Drexel Saturday afternoon, with a standout performance from true rookie Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.). James paced the attack with four goals and a pair of assists en route to a Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week honor while the Bulldogs saw seven different players chip in with tallies.

"To win this game, we have to be excited to play," said Pressler. "To us, Monmouth certainly looks like a very good group defensively. In our last two road trips against Colgate and Hartford, we were not ready to play, especially at the offensive end, and that is the challenge for our guys tomorrow at 3 p.m."

Just as important to the victory was the stellar play of sophomore Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) between the pipes. Tying his season best with 17 saves, the three-time defending NEC Defensive Player of the Week kept out a Dragon offense that was averaging nearly 14 goals per game on Saturday in an outing that has become standard this season. Through the first five games, Waldt has averaged 15.2 stops per contest with a save percentage of .679 and just a 7.23 goals against average. He also adds 16 ground balls on the 2014 campaign.

"We have a great feel of who we are and who we are not, and we respect every opponent," said Pressler. "As everybody has seen by all the scores through the first four or five weeks of this season, anybody can be had if they are not ready to go."

Fans can find links to live stats or for a live video feed at bryantbulldogs.com.