TOURNAMENT TIME! Bryant hosts MAAC Champ Monmouth in NCAA Opening Round Wednesday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University men's lacrosse team returns to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five years after clinching the program's fifth Northeast Conference Tournament title and will host MAAC Champion Monmouth University Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the NCAA Opening Round. Wednesday's faceoff from the Bryant Track & Turf Complex can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com.

HOW THEY GOT THERE
The Bulldogs trumped top-seeded Hobart, 5-4, in Saturday's NEC Championship in Geneva, N.Y., to earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. This is Bryant's third appearance in the NCAA Opening Round and second time hosting, and the winner of Wednesday's game advances to an NCAA First Round matchup against #1 Maryland Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in College Park, Md. (ESPNU).

THE SERIES
This is just the second time Bryant and Monmouth have met in men's lacrosse, with the Bulldogs taking the series's only victory, 12-7, in West Long Branch, N.J., back on March 11, 2014.

SCOUTING THE HAWKS
Monmouth enters Smithfield riding an 11-game winning streak dating back to March 18 and received its first-ever national ranking at No. 19 from the Maverik Inside Lacrosse Media Poll this week. One of the top defenses in the nation, the Hawks rank second in the country is goals allowed (7.24) and clear at nearly a 91 percent clip (third nationally). The Hawks take care of the ball on both sides of the field, averaging just 10.71 turnovers per game (third nationally) and create opportunities with their defense, ranking ninth in Division I with 8.82 caused turnovers per game. The defense is anchored by one of the country's best crease protectors in Nick Hreshko, who ranks second in goals against average (6.97) and third in save percentage (.593). Bryce Wasserman leads the team offensively, heading the statsheet in goals (28), assists (15) and points (43). Monmouth finished a perfect 6-0 in MAAC competition and won the MAAC Tournament as the top seed.

BRYANT vs. THE METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (MAAC)
Wednesday's game marks the 13th meeting between the Bulldogs and a current member of the MAAC, and the Bulldogs have faced six of the seven MAAC members in their Division I history. All-time, Bryant is 10-2 against members of the league, including a 4-1 mark against former NEC foe Quinnipiac, who joined the MAAC in 2014. The Bulldogs have played a MAAC opponent in each of its previous two NCAA Opening Round matchups, hosting Siena in the 2014 (9-8 win) and falling to No. 20 Marist in the 2015 NCAA Play-In. Bryant has also met Detroit Mercy once (15-6 win in 2009) and is 2-0 against both Siena and Manhattan, including victories over each earlier this season.

QUICK HITS
» A Matter of Record: The Bulldogs are 13-5 in the postseason in the program's Division I era. Bryant is an impressive 11-2 in NEC Tournament action, has never missed qualifying for an NEC Tournament and is a perfect 5-0 in NEC Championship games. Bryant is 2-3 in NCAA tournament play.

» Bryant vs. ranked opponents: The Bulldogs are 1-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season, beating then-No. 7/6 Yale on the road, 9-6, on March 4 just days after falling to then-No. 19 Boston University, 12-9, in the Bay State on Feb. 28.

» Pulling Rank: Bryant has won NEC Tournament Championships out of the first (2013), second (2012, 2014, 2017) and third (2015) seeds.

» Where you lead, I will follow: Head coach Mike Pressler earned the 350th victory of his career in Saturday's NEC title win. Of those victories, 121 have come with the Bulldogs.

» First to 10: Getting to 10 goals will be key for the Bulldogs, who are 6-1 this season when hitting double-digit goals, but it will be more difficult than ever against a stingy Monmouth defense. The Hawks have only allowed opponents to reach double figures three times this season, but the Bulldogs are just 4-6 when limited to single-digit scoring. Bryant also has seven wins when it has limited its opponent to fewer than 10 tallies.

» Too Close for Comfort: In Bryant's seven games decided by two goals or fewer, the Bulldogs have recorded just two wins, an 8-7 win over Saint Joseph's back on March 25 and their 5-4 NEC Championship victory over Hobart on Saturday. On the flip side, Bryant is 7-1 in games decided by at least four scores.

» Marginalized: Speaking of margins of victory, the Bulldogs saw their largest and smallest of the season in the NEC Tournament, topping the third-seeded Colonials, 12-3, in Thursday's NEC Semifinal (+9) before winning the title by just one, 5-4, over Hobart. Robert Morris's three goals scored marked the second-fewest tallies allowed by the Black and Gold this year after limiting Wagner to just one on April 1.

LAST TIME WE WERE HERE...
The Bulldogs participated in the NCAA Opening Round in 2014 and 2015 and are 1-1 in the contests. The last time the Black and Gold hosted the game was in 2014, when Bryant beat Siena, 9-8, at Beirne Stadium and went on to shock second-seeded Syracuse inside the Carrier Dome, 10-9, to earn a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

PRESSLER IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Now in his 11th year in Smithfield, head coach Mike Pressler makes his 19th NCAA tournament appearance in 2017 and fourth since taking over the helm at Bryant University. Before arriving in Rhode Island, Pressler brought his Duke program to the dance 10 times, including an appearance in the 2005 national championship, and prior to that led Ohio Wesleyan to three-straight NCAA Division III title games (5 tournament appearances). All-time in NCAA tournament action, Pressler is 19-18 (.514) with a 11-13 mark (.458) at the Division I level (Duke, Bryant).

WALL-TO-WALL
Wednesday's key matchup could just come inside the crease, as both teams feature goalies ranked inside the national top-10 for both goals against average and save percentage. Bulldog junior James Werner has had an impressive campaign in 2017, his first as a starter, and currently ranks fourth nationally in goals against average (7.62) and seventh in save percentage (.566). Werner has posted double-digit saves in four of his last five outings and has nine such performances in 2017. He has held opponents to single digits on 13 occasions and has led a defense that has limited competition to a league-low 7.94 goals per game, good for sixth in the nation. His career-high 18 saves against Hobart on April 15 set a new Division I program mark and rank second in Bryant's single-game record book.

In the opposite crease, however, sits one of the select few ranked above Werner on the national landscape. Hreshko ranks second in Division I in GAA at 6.97 and third in save percentage at .593. He leads a defense ranked second in the country, one that enters Wednesday's contest allowing just 7.24 opponent goals per game.

TUCK AND ROLL
What the Hawks don't have is a top-20 scorer like the Bulldogs have in senior attack and four-time all-conference selection Tucker James. The captain and leading scorer holds the program's Division I records for goals (136) and points (221) and ranks fourth and third, respectively, in program history. His 71st-career start on Saturday set a new program mark, and the three-time All-NEC First Teamer hasn't missed a start in four seasons. His 85 career assists are good for third all-time in the Bulldog record books, while his career-high 13-point effort during the 2016 season set a new program mark. James is just the second player in program history and first at the Division I level to record 50 or more points in all four seasons, and enters Wednesday's game with 65 points (38g, 27a) as a senior, his highest total yet. The NEC leader in assists per game (1.59) and points per game (3.82) in 2017, James ranks 20th nationally in points per outing while ranking 32nd in assists per game and 37th in scoring. He recorded the fourth-highest point total of any Division I player this season with 10 (5g, 5a) against Siena on March 13. Among all active Division I players, James ranks seventh in career points and goals and ninth in career assists.

DISCIPLINED DAWGS
The Bulldogs were by far the least penalized team in the Northeast Conference this season, seeing only 35 flags fly in their direction to total a league-low 25.5 penalty minutes in 17 games. Monmouth saw the second most penalties in the MAAC with 57, nearly doubling the Bulldogs in penalty minutes with 50.

LOOKING SHARPE
Bryant will look to gain an advantage out of that penalty disparity, as the Bulldogs enter Wednesday's Opening Round game ranked fifth in the nation for its man-up offense. The Bulldogs have found the back of the net in more than half of their extra-man opportunities this season (22-43), and are led in the category by eight man-up goals from senior midfielder Ryan Sharpe. Sharpe ranks second in the country in extra-man tallies, behind only Princeton's Gavin McBride (9).

MASSA-CRE
Redshirt-junior faceoff specialist and All-NEC First Team pick Kenny Massa has been stellar at the X all season. Massa ranks 17th in the nation in faceoff percentage (.583) and 15th in ground balls per game (6.29), and he leads the NEC in both categories. He has won better than 50 percent of his faceoffs in 13-of-17 contests this season, including five-of-six league games, and posted the third-highest single-game winning percentage in the nation this season with his 12-for-13 mark (.923) against Wagner on April 1. Massa picked up double-digit ground balls twice, including recording the seventh-most single-game ground ball total this year with 16 against Siena.

START ME UP
It will be important for the Bulldogs to get off to a good start Wednesday, as Bryant has struggled to overcome deficits all season long, with a key exception coming in Saturday's NEC Championship. Saturday's win over Hobart marked the first time all season the Bulldogs came back to win when trailing at the halftime break, where Bryant is now 1-4 on the year. Bryant was down, 3-1, at the intermission Saturday before a three-goal third quarter gave the second seed its first lead of the game. The Black and Gold are 0-6 in 2017 when trailing after three quarters. The Bulldogs have won just three games in which their opponent scored the first goal (3-3) and, on Saturday, won just their second game in which they've trailed after the first 15 minutes. The Bulldogs are 0-3 in contests that have been tied inside the final two minutes of regulation and have not played in an overtime game this season.

SHOOT TO SCORE
Junior attack Cam Ziegler ranks 13th in the nation in shot percentage this season, finding the back of the net nearly 46 percent of the time. His 28 goals have come on just 61 shots, and the three-year starter has not fired more than seven shots in a game this season. He has four hat tricks on the year, including four-goal games against Manhattan and Brown.

BULLDOGS LAND SIX ON ALL-NEC TEAMS
Led by four All-Northeast Conference First Team selections, Bryant saw six players earn all-league recognitions last Wednesday night. Starting attack Tucker James and top defenseman Kyle Mummau headlined the group, as the pair of senior captains earned All-NEC First Team honors for the third-consecutive season. Junior middie Tom Kennedy and redshirt-junior faceoff specialist Kenny Massa joined the duo on the top unit, as the Black and Gold earned the most first-team honorees in the league. Junior middie Kyle Cornell earned all-conference second team honors, while redshirt-freshman attack Jake Buonaiuto was selected to the NEC All-Rookie Team. It was the first all-conference recognition for Kennedy, Massa, Cornell and Buonaiuto.

NEC TOURNAMENT NUMBERS
Senior attack Tucker James paced the Black and Gold on the 2017 NEC Tournament, finding the back of the net four times while finishing the weekend with five points. Nine different Bulldogs got on the board in a low-scoring tournament, with junior midfielder Tom Kennedy finishing the tournament second on the team with four points (3g, 1a). The Bulldogs won their fifth NEC title on defense, where junior James Werner stood tall between the pipes, posting an incredible 3.50 goals against average with 22 saves and a .759 save percentage in the two-game sweep. Werner led the side with nine ground balls, while James and junior faceoff specialist Kenny Massa (18-30) each added eight more. Bryant's starting close defense combined for 11 of the team's 18 caused turnovers, and captains Kyle Mummau and Chas South led that charge with four apiece. James, Mummau, South and Werner were all named to the NEC All-Tournament Team, with Werner earning the NEC Tournament's Most Valuable Player.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior attack Tucker James and starting defensemen Kyle Mummau and Chas South were elected by their teammates as Bulldog captains in 2017.