Bulldogs and Dragons face off for sixth-straight year, Saturday at 1 p.m. in Smithfield

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Fresh off a win over No. 8/7 Harvard, the Bryant University men's lacrosse team concludes its three-game homestand, taking on a familiar Drexel University for the sixth-consecutive season on Saturday afternoon.

"Much like the Harvard game, we dismissed our performance against Yale after last week, and we did the same after the Harvard game in preparation for Saturday," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "This is our sixth year in a row playing Drexel, and we expect this to be a closely contested game against an evenly matched opponent, with each team having very contrasting styles."

The Bulldogs (4-2) and Dragons (1-4) are very familiar with one another, playing in each of the last five seasons. The host squad is 5-0 in the all-time series, as Bryant has limited Drexel to just over 5.0 goals in the two games played in Smithfield.

"I can't really pin point anything specifically as to why we have had more success against them at home, though the crowd certainly helps," said Pressler. "The respect we have for them is tremendous and they are a unique and very different team we will see all year. It's an opponent we know well with a unique style being a Canadian influence on offense. Over the years, this is the game that has a chance of going down to the wire."

The Canadian influence on offense that exhibits an increase in quick passes and more screens moving from one side of the crease to the other, is led by a trio of double-digit point scorers at the attack. Freshman Matthew Varian leads the Dragons with 13 points on eight goals and five assists. He is accompanied by juniors Robert Frazee (9g, 2a) and Cole Shafer (7g, 4a), who have each tallied 11 points. Junior midfielder Joe Rainoldi has buried seven goals on the season, while frosh mid Will Manganiello has registered seven points on five helpers and two scores.

"They are very similar to our attack with three kids at the top who complement each other very well," said Pressler. "One has good quickness, one is a strong lefty off the dodge and the third is a great team leader and passer."

The Bulldogs' offense has had success against Drexel over the last two seasons, as seniors Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) and Collins Gantz (Denver, Colo.) along with junior Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) and sophomore Cam Ziegler (Carslbad, Calif.) were responsible for all eight goals in last season's matchup. Gantz registered four goals last year, while both Ziegler (2g, 1a) and Morrell (1g, 2a) tallied three points. In the 2014 meeting, James was the standout with six points on four goals and two helpers with Gantz and Morrell netting two scores and one goal, respectively.

Though both Ziegler and Gantz caged two goals in Tuesday's win over Harvard with Morrell and James adding a score each, the Black and Gold got crucial scores from juniors Cody O'Donnell (Smithfield, R.I.), Brett Baker (Ridgefield, Conn.) and Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) in the second half.

"Our goal is to get to 10 scores and to do that we need to do it in a variety of ways," said Pressler. "The more balance and depth we have in our scoring the better, and we hope we can pull it off Saturday."

Senior goalie Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) was only credited with seven saves on Tuesday, but the saves he made in the third period were special and allowed the Bulldogs to operate quickly in transition. Waldt - 66 saves and a 9.63 goals-against average on the season - turned away 17 shots and allowed just six goals against Drexel in 2014.

His counterpart on Saturday, Jimmy Joe Granito, has performed at a high level this season, despite being the netminder on a team allowing just under 14 goals per game. Granito is saving 12.4 shots per contest, ranking 10th in the country.

"We have to put the ball on cage against Drexel, which we did not do enough on Tuesday," said Pressler. "We had a lot of shots against Harvard, but we can't afford to miss our shots Saturday and take Granito off the hook."  

The Bulldogs have struggled with early scoring all season, netting 15 goals in the first period of their six games, but they average over 18.0 goals in periods two, three and four combined (25g in the 4th). Bryant erupted in the second half on Tuesday, outscoring Harvard, 8-3, while holding a 33-9 shot advantage. Sophomore Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) engineered the second-half outburst against the Crimson by dominating the faceoff X (10-for-13).

Massa could produce similar results against the Dragons, who have won just 33.3 percent of their faceoffs this season. Nabil Akl (27-72) and Julian Espina (10-34) have handled the majority of opportunities at the X for Drexel, while Kyle Paul (5-25) and David Byrne (3-4) have also seen time at the faceoff.

"We hope that Kenny can turn that around for us and help us score early," said Pressler. "He was dominant in the second half and he needs to carry that momentum into Saturday at 1 p.m. Regardless of who they throw at Kenny, he needs to stay consistent with his technique and our message to 31 is to remain true to his fundamentals."

The Bulldogs also unveiled a brand new uniform on Tuesday, created by adidas lacrosse.

"We're very proud of our relationship with adidas lacrosse," said Pressler. "To be one of the few teams to be sponsored by them, and to show off a new product of theirs in an atmosphere and game like Tuesday is great for our program and great for our relationship with adidas as well."

The Black and Gold and their newly-designed uniforms can be seen once again at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday against the Dragons at the Bryant Track and Turf Complex or online at NECFrontRow.com.