Bulldogs host pair of weekend matches, take on the Colonials Friday and Red Flash Sunday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's soccer team will experience its first Friday-Sunday turnaround of the season when it hosts two Northeast Conference matches, first taking on Robert Morris Friday at 3:00 p.m. and then Saint Francis U. Sunday at noon.

The Bulldogs (1-9-1, 0-1-1) have never lost to the Colonials (3-7-2, 0-2-1), currently holding a 5-0-3 record, but all eight matchups have been close contests each being decided by one goal with five playing into overtime. Bryant has not had as much success against the Red Flash (9-5, 2-1), sporting a 1-5-2 record. But the Bulldogs have claimed victory in two of the last four meetings, including the 2014 NEC Tournament opening-round contest that was won in penalty kicks.

Bryant is currently tied for sixth in the league standings with Robert Morris, making Friday's game a critical match if this weekend's hosts want to keep their postseason hopes alive. The Black and Gold will need to generate more offense, as they were shutout for the seventh time this season in Friday's 2-0 loss at Fairleigh Dickinson.

Senior Curtis Orth (Ancaster, Ont.) had a pair of quality shots from inside the box in the final six minutes, but both were saved by the Knight keeper. Current Bulldogs have made significant contributions against both the Colonials and Red Flash over the years. Orth has a combined six shots with three on target and a goal scored against Robert Morris, senior Jake Lamar (New Haven, Conn.) scored in last year's 1-0 win over RMU and junior Thomas Binder (Vienna, Austria) had the assist.

Orth has sent five shots with one on net against the Red Flash to go along with an assist in each of Bryant's victories, including a helper in 2013's tournament win. The assist set up classmate Pedro-Lucas Ferreira (East Boston, Mass.) for the first score of that match.

Bryant is hoping that it can provide some assistance to their keepers, as freshman Olivier Larente (Garches, France) has made two-consecutive starts, but has yet to play with a lead or see his team score. The defense will also try to limit the chances faced this weekend, as the Knights attempted 18 shots on Friday with 11 on frame, though Larente made nine stops, the second most by a Bryant freshman in its Division I history.

Scouting the Colonials

Robert Morris capped off a three-game win streak on September 17 with a 2-1 decision at Lehigh, but has not won a game since. The offense sits fourth in the NEC with 0.92 goals per game and it is led by junior mid Keane McIvor with seven points on a goal and five assists, as his 0.50 assists per game ranks 15th nationally. Junior forward Rafael Bruzual sits second with six points on three goals, while classmate Jake Cooper and sophomore Zac Sherman have each netted a pair of goals.

The offensive firepower has been somewhat lackluster at times, but the play of Colonial keeper, junior Winter Fondi, has been steady this season. He sits second in the conference with a 0.797 save percentage and seventh in the country with 5.73 saves per game.

Scouting the Red Flash

Saint Francis U. is currently third in the NEC and has the most wins at nine thanks to an extremely balanced unit. The offense is led by senior defender Jack Webber, who has a team-high 11 points on five goals and an assist. Sophomore forward Mario Mastrangelo follows with eight points on three scores and two helpers, junior defender Pedro Neto has six points on a score and a team-best four assists, and middies Dominic Ramirez and Troye Kiernan each have five points. Eight more Red Flash players have added points, seven of which have multiple points.

The balanced offense that sits second in the league in total points, assists, assists per game, shots per game and points per game is matched by the defensive unit. Saint Francis U. gives up 0.84 goals per game to sit second in the conference and leads the NEC with nine shutouts this year. The experienced backline features four members that started at least 18 games a season ago and two that started all 20, including reigning NEC and ECAC Defender of the Year, Francis de Vries.

Friday's match with the Colonials kicks off at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday's contest with the Red Flash starts at noon. Both games can be followed along via livestats on BryantBulldogs.com, Twitter @BryantGameday or seen live on NECFrontRow.com.