Bryant closes out February at Manhattan
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team looks to close February with a victory when the Bulldogs travel to New York for a meeting with Manhattan Saturday afternoon.
The Particulars
Opponent: Manhattan
Location: Gaelic Park (Riverdale, N.Y.)
Date and Time: Saturday, Feb. 29 – Noon
Watch: None
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #GoBryant | #NECMLax
SCOUTING THE JASPERS
Manhattan is 2-1 on the year with wins over VMI and Wagner after a season-opening loss at Navy. Luke Hanson recorded one goal and nine assists in the win over the Seahawks last weekend on Staten Island.
Kyle Gucwa has scored seven goals and added three assists for Manhattan, while Hanson's 3.0 assists per game are good for seventh nationally. The Jaspers have averaged 13.0 goals per game in their two victories after the Midshipmen held them to four in the opener. Manhattan has limited all three of its opponents to single digits.
THE SERIES
Bryant is 3-1 all-time against Manhattan and won the lone meeting at Gaelic Park in 2016. The teams met in Smithfield in each of the last three seasons.
The Jaspers stunned the Bulldogs at the Conaty Indoor Athletic Center last March, scoring the final three goals of the game to turn an 8-6 deficit into a 9-8 win over Bryant. Pat Brosnan (South San Francisco, Calif.), Marc O'Rourke (Hingham, Mass.) and Trevor Weingarten (Allendale, N.J.) scored twice each for Bryant, while Luke Caracciolo (Centreville, Va.) made 15 saves.
LAST TIME OUT: DARTMOUTH 11, BRYANT 8
The teams were tied 2-2 at the half Saturday in Hanover before Bryant built an 8-5 lead early in the fourth quarter. Dartmouth responded to score the final six goals of the game and hold the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the last 10 minutes of the contest. Weingarten contributed a five-point afternoon in the defeat.
ON THE UP AND UP
Redshirt-freshman Logan McGovern (Darien, Conn.) has scored five man-up goals in his first seven contests as a Bulldog. McGovern, who notched two last season against Providence before a season-ending injury in the following contest, has one man-up goal in each of Bryant's last three games.
JAKE STARTS 2020 STRONG
Redshirt-senior Jake Buonaiuto (Miller Place, N.Y.) has scored 12 goals and added three assists in his first four games of the year, eclipsing his goal (3) and point (6) totals from 2019.
Buonaiuto, who had one career four-goal game entering the year, scored four times in each of Bryant's first two contests of 2020. He is the first Bulldog with back-to-back games of four or more goals since O'Rourke tallied six and five in the first two conference games of the 2018 season.
MR. CONSISTENT
O'Rourke has recorded 104 points over his last 27 games with at least one point in every game - a streak that ranks 24th nationally entering Saturday.
O'Rourke's 117 career points rank eighth in Bryant's Division I history, as the junior passed Dan Sipperly and current assistant coach Travis Harrington in the first three games of 2020. His 75 career goals are four back of Max Weisenberg for seventh in Bryant's Division I era, while his 42 assists are three back of Tom Kennedy for seventh.
BULLDOGS AMONG NEW ENGLAND'S BEST
Bryant has won 109 games since joining Division I in 2009 - the second-highest total of the 16 Division I lacrosse programs in the six New England states behind Yale's 125. The Bulldogs' .568 winning percentage over those 11 seasons ranks fourth in New England, trailing only Yale, Brown and UMass.
UP NEXT: STONY BROOK
Bryant opens the month of March at Beirne Stadium when Stony Brook visits Smithfield next Saturday at noon. Tickets are available HERE and the game can be seen on NEC Front Row.
Tickets for the 2020 Bryant University men's lacrosse season are available HERE.
Follow Bryant University men's lacrosse on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get an inside look at the program.