Bulldogs welcome Statesmen to Smithfield on Senior Day, Saturday at 1 p.m.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team concludes play at the Bryant Track and Turf Complex on Saturday at 1 p.m. when it will honor its eight seniors and battle Hobart to continue jockeying for seeding in the Northeast Conference tournament.

The Bulldogs (8-4, 3-1 NEC) and Statesmen (7-5, 3-1) are in a dead heat for second place in the league, and have both clinched a berth in the conference tournament, along with first-place St. Joseph's. Both squads enter the sixth installment of this series with a chance of hosting the conference tournament, and the Bulldogs currently hold a 4-2 edge in the all-time matchup (2-0 in Smithfield).

"This is another quality Hobart team across the board," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "They've been playing really well the past couple weeks with very similar scores as us against common opponents. We expect yet another highly contested game on the turf in this year's matchup with the Statesmen."  

Saturday's hosts have won four of their last five games, most recently a 12-7 win over Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday afternoon. The Statesmen have won two-straight and five of their last seven contests, with the only two losses coming at St. Joe's and to No. 8 Syracuse. Since Hobart joined the NEC in 2014, it has played Bryant in each of the last two conference tourneys with the Black and Gold winning both meetings.

Hobart's offense enters Saturday's matchup averaging just under 10 goals per game to sit fifth in the NEC. It's an offense that is powered by junior attack Frank Brown with 35 points on 28 goals and seven assists, already more than doubling his career-highs in both points and goals. Freshman attack Chris Aslanian is the only other Statesmen with 20 or more points, with 25 on 19 goals and six assists. Saturday's visitors have three additional double-digit goal scorers in junior attack Sean Donnelly, senior midfielder Gavin Llewellyn and junior attack Max Romm.

Where the Statesmen have really flourished offensively this season has been at the X, due to a dynamic unit that features two different specialists and an active group of wings. Sophomore mid J Andrew Spallanzani has won roughly 57 percent of his opportunities this season (111-195) and freshman specialist Matthew Pedicine has won 50 percent of his 81 opportunities. The two have combined for just 43 ground balls on the year, as the team picks up the sixth-fewest ground balls in the league. The faceoff team that is winning the second-most matchups in the league has been so successful thanks to its wing players.

"They face off with two guys on a consistent pace which is very unique and challenging if you're not properly prepared for a constant rotation," said Pressler. "Their faceoff guys are not winning a lot of ground balls which tells you that their wings are doing a great job, so we really need to win that battle and that specific matchup on Saturday."

As for Bryant, sophomore mid Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) had been on fire until the second half against Mount St. Mary's. Massa won 11-of-17 opportunities in the opening half against the Mountaineers, but went 0-for-6 in the second. Massa (53 percent on the year) leads the NEC and sits 13th nationally with 6.08 ground balls per game, but it will take a complete effort to win the battle at the X on Saturday. After a quick start to the 12-7 win over the Mount, Bryant and the faceoff unit was clicking on all cylinders in the first half that saw 10 goals find the back of the net.  

"We take a great deal of pride in coming out of the locker room ready to go," said Pressler. "That will be as important as ever against Hobart, and it all starts with No. 31 at the X."

Trying to hold the Statesmen to under 10 goals for a fifth-straight time will be senior netminder and team captain Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.). Waldt has been on top of his game, as the NEC Tournament nears, with double-digit saves in five of the last six games. He leads the league in saves per game (11.0/18th nationally), sits second in save percentage (54.1) and third in goals-against average (9.59). Waldt has 55 saves in his four matchups with Hobart and he has allowed just 27 goals.

Manning the opposing crease on Saturday will be junior Jackson Brown. Waldt may be the class of the NEC between the pipes, but Brown has been stellar as well. Brown was an All-NEC Second Team selection in 2015 and sat 10th in the country in save percentage. He currently ranks third in the league in both saves and save percentage and second in goals-against average (9.43). Brown has had success against Bryant in his two career meetings, both coming last season. He turned away 10 shots and allowed just six scores in the Statesmen's 7-6 OT win over Bryant in the regular season, and made four stops in the NEC Semifinal matchup.

"Hobart is great in the goal just like we are," said Pressler. "I'm not sure that there is a goalie in the NEC quite like Gunnar Waldt, but their goalie is as good as anyone else and he has played exceptionally well against us the past couple of matchups."

Brown is not left for dead in the crease, as junior defender Arik Andreen has been terrific at aiding his keeper. Andreen sits second in the conference with 20 caused turnovers to go along with 20 ground balls. Sophomore defender Christopher Willman has nine caused turnovers and ranks second on the squad with 32 ground balls. The defensive unit as a whole has been sensational when battling with one fewer body, as it boasts the second-best man-down defense in the nation.

Brown and that solid defensive pack will need to key in on a multitude of threats for the Bulldogs, but particularly junior attack Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.). The third-year marksman has multi-goal outings in five-straight games while averaging over five points over that stretch, and he netted all five of his goals against the Mount in the first half. Junior mid Ryan Sharpe (Poway, Calif.) has registered multi-point outings in five-straight games, and both Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Tom Forsberg (Huntington, N.Y.) have tallied goals in six and five-straight contests, respectively.

James (7g, 7a) along with senior attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) (8g, 4a) have carried the Bulldogs' offense against the Statesmen, and there has been tremendous depth with that production. That depth was on display in the first half against the Mount, but only two goals were scored in the second half, so Saturday's key will be to put together a complete 60 minutes on both ends of the field.

"We just need to be smarter with the ball on offense and do a better job of valuing possessions," said Pressler. "The more we play offense, the more that will complement the defense and that is done by winning the faceoff consistently throughout the game and winning the ground ball battle as well. If we are efficient throughout the entirety of the game in what we do offensively, we'll be successful."

With many family and friends in attendance for Saturday's Senior Day and a lot riding on the game in terms of potential seeding in the NEC Tournament, the Bulldogs will look to remain focused on the task at hand.

"Our guys understand the significance of this game and are able to look beyond the Senior Day ceremony," said Pressler. "Given the situation in the conference, there's a lot riding on these last couple of games, and we'll be ready to go Saturday afternoon against Hobart."

The Senior Day festivities will take place at 12:50 at the Bryant Track and Turf Complex, and the action that is scheduled to get under way at 1:00 p.m. can be seen on NECFrontRow.com or followed along via livestats at BryantBulldogs.com.