Bryant looks to turn tide at Wagner Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.)

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team will look to turn things around on the road Saturday afternoon, as it continues Northeast Conference play with a 1:00 p.m. tilt against Wagner College.

Winners of three straight, the Seahawks (4-4, 1-0 NEC) will be looking for their second conference victory after taking a 6-5 overtime win from Mount St. Mary's opening weekend back on March 21. The Bulldogs (2-7, 0-2) have dropped a pair of heartbreaking one-goal losses to Saint Joseph's, 8-7, and Hobart, 7-6, in overtime to open their 2015 league slate and will need to turn the tide quickly with just four conference games to go.

Andrew Streilein paces Wagner with 23 points on the 2015 season, also leading the team with 16 goals. Billy Battaglia is the side's assist leader with nine, also sporting six scores for 15 points, while Paul DeVita (17 points) and Patrick McMenamin (17) also grace the top of the Seahawks' scoresheet. Billy Orme (8 goals, 5 assists) and JP Pawela (6g, 6a) boast double-digit points on the season, as well.

The Seahawks have faced off by committee so far this season, seeing five different looks at the X. Kyle McGinley has seen the most success, winning 34-of-70 (.486) with 18 ground balls. As a team, the unit posts a .431 faceoff winning percentage.

Defensively, Matt Bunting and Daniel Valencia lead the way, with the former gobbling up a team-leading 22 ground balls with 10 caused turnovers. The latter has forced a side-best 11 giveaways while scooping up 12 ground balls.

But the standout for the Seahawks this season has been the play of netminder Anthony Peruso between the pipes. The junior enters weekend action ranked fourth in the nation with a 7.05 goals against average, averaging eight stops per game while posting a .533 save percentage. As a team, Wagner ranks fifth in the country in scoring defense, letting up just 7.25 goals per contest and are nine in caused turnovers with 8.13 each time out. The Seahawks have also proven they value the ball, ranking 12th in the nation and second in the league at only 12.5 turnovers per game.

Bryant will counter with a stellar goalie of its own in junior Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.), who enters the contest on an upward trend, posting a .630 save percentage and 7.43 goals against average since turning the corner March 10 against No. 2 North Carolina.

Senior Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) ranks ninth nationally with a .637 faceoff winning percentage and is coming off a week that saw him go 27-of-34 with 22 ground balls en route to NEC and ECAC Player of the Week accolades. Massa also ranks fifth in the country with 8.67 ground balls per game.

The Bulldogs are still looking for increased production out of the midfield ranks, though the team's top six offensive starters have each recorded at least one point in three of the last four games. But nine bouts into the season, the Bulldogs boast just three double-digit goal scorers – sophomore attack Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.), junior attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) and rookie attack Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) – and only six players with 10 or more points.

Entering Saturday's action, the Bulldogs rank in the NEC's top four in only a trio of categories – ground balls per game (31.44, first), faceoff winning percentage (.757, first) and scoring defense (9.11, fourth).

Saturday's 1:00 p.m. faceoff against Wagner can be seen live and free-of-charge at NECFrontRow.com.