Bulldogs impress in 2016 debut, top Manhattan, 16-3, at home behind career days from Ziegler, Sharpe

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Paced by career-high six-point outings from junior midfielder Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) and sophomore attack Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.), the Bryant University men's lacrosse team impressed in its 2016 season debut, topping Manhattan College, 16-3, at the Bryant Turf Complex Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (1-0) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back, seeing eight different goal scorers while 10 different players registered at least one point. Sharpe and Ziegler led the way, each posting the first four-goal games of their careers while adding a pair of assists apiece.

"It was nice to see those guys have career days," said head coach Mike Pressler, now in his 10th season at the helm. "They let the opportunities come to them, and they made the most of them."

Junior attack Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) and rookie linemate Brady O'Donnell (Smithfield, R.I.) each added two goals and two helpers of their own, while starting middie Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) notched his own tally. Bryant also saw three scorers come off the bench in junior Brett Baker (Ridgefield, Conn.), sophomore Trevor Bovich (West Islip, N.Y.) and rookie Kevin Quigley (Fairfax Station, Va.), with the latter two scoring the first goals of their careers.

Despite the loss, sophomore goalie Michael Zingaro was strong between the pipes for the Jaspers (0-1), recording 17 saves while facing a barrage of shots from the Black and Gold (55). Each of Manhattan's three goals came from different sticks, with freshman Parker Giarrantana registering the team's only multipoint game (1g, 1a).

"We were really ready to play today," said Pressler. "We were excited to play, and led by Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) at the faceoff, we got out to a great start. Our attack and our ride were the key factors for us, especially in the first half."

Massa dominated the faceoff X in his debut as the team's top specialist, going 19-for-22 while picking up a career-high 13 ground balls, also registering an assist on the second goal of the game from O'Donnell with 9:38 left in the fourth quarter. As a unit, the Bulldogs went 20-of-23 from the X and won the ground ball game, 40-33.

"That performance was great for us to see with Kenny," Pressler said. "He created momentum for us every time he got the ball back. He had a really good day."

The Bulldogs were also strong defensively, led by a seven-save effort from senior captain Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.), who gave up just a pair of scores before giving way to sophomore James Werner (New Rochelle, N.Y.) for the final minutes of the contest.

"Gunnar made some great saves," said Pressler. "He made some point blank ones, and he was on top of his game. At the end of the day, I was pleased with No. 40."

The Bulldogs scored early and often in the first 15 minutes, with junior Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) connecting with Kennedy for his first of three assists to break the ice five minutes into the opening stanza.

Ziegler and Sharpe would team up to make it 2-0 just 90 seconds later, and James would get on the board two minutes after that. Another two-minute interval would bring Sharpe's first tally of the game, assisted by Ziegler, and a Baker score would make it 5-0 in favor of the home side with 2:50 left on the first-quarter clock.

O'Donnell would score the first goal of his career as the clock ticked below the one-minute mark, receiving an over-the-top pass from behind the goal from Ziegler and firing it home for the 6-0 advantage. Ziegler would finish off first-quarter scoring with seven ticks remaining in unassisted fashion.

"Brady got the start and he really stepped up," said Pressler. "I was very pleased with his game. He let it come to him, didn't try to force anything and played really well overall."

The lead would quickly move to 9-0 for the hosts in the starting minutes of the second, before Manhattan finally broke through thanks to Giarrantana's first-career goal with 1:29 to go before the halftime break.

Out of the intermission, Sharpe would complete his first hat trick of the season with the first of the team's two man-up tallies for a 10-1 edge, and James and Ziegler would send the Black and Gold into the fourth with a 12-1 lead on scores just 31 seconds apart.

The fourth saw Manhattan find the back of the net twice – once from Matt Garvey and once from Conor Darby to wrap up the scoring – but the Bulldogs would get three more as well en route to the 16-3 final.

On the afternoon, the Bulldogs outshot the Jaspers, 55-21, and registered five caused turnovers on Manhattan's 22 total giveaways. Sophomore defenseman Anthony Johnson (Fairfield, Conn.) led the way with two. Bryant turned the ball over 17 times – though only five of those would come in the first half – and went 16-of-18 on the clear.

The Bulldogs will not revel in the victory for long, though, with a contest against a Bucknell team receiving votes in the preseason coaches' poll looming next Saturday.

"There is so much work to come for us," said Pressler, "and next up is a terrific team that will give us quite a challenge, to say the least."

The Bulldogs and the Bison will faceoff from the Bryant Turf Complex at 1 p.m.