Bulldogs selected as unanimous preseason favorites in NEC coaches poll

SOMERSET, N.J. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team has been selected as unanimous preseason favorites in the annual Northeast Conference coaches poll, as announced Tuesday by the NEC office.

Bryant received all six possible first-place votes in the ballot of the NEC's head coaches as the Bulldogs look to defend their NEC title and aim for their sixth conference crown in the last seven seasons.

Hobart, Robert Morris and Saint Joseph's rounded out the top four projected for the Northeast Conference Championship to be held May 3-5 at the site of the regular season champion. Sacred Heart, Mount St. Mary's and Wagner completed the seven-team conference poll. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.

The Bulldogs went 11-8 in 2017 and captured the Northeast Conference Championship as the No. 2 seed with a victory at Hobart in the title game. Bryant defeated Monmouth in an NCAA Opening Round game before falling to eventual national champion Maryland.

Bryant returns three NEC all-conference selections from a year ago – senior Tom Kennedy (Farmingdale, N.Y.), graduate student Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) and senior Kyle Cornell (Darien, Conn.) – along with NEC all-rookie honoree Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.).

Senior Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) returns after adding 47 points to the Bryant offense in 2017, as does senior James Werner (New Rochelle, N.Y.), who ranked fifth nationally in goals-against average (7.85) and ninth in save percentage (.552) for a Bryant defense that ranked in the top 10 in the nation in scoring defense for the fifth time in six seasons.

Bryant opens its 2018 season at home Saturday when the Bulldogs host Manhattan at 1 p.m. The regular season slate also features a pair of teams ranked in the preseason USILA/Nike Coaches Poll, as No. 5 Yale will visit Smithfield March 3 and Bryant will travel to No. 20 Brown in the regular season finale April 24.

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