Posted: May 16, 2008

Men's Lacrosse Travels to Le Moyne for NCAA Semifinals Saturday

May 15, 2008

BRYANT MEN'S LACROSSE TRAVELS TO LE MOYNE SATURDAY FOR NCAA SEMIFINALS

Date: Saturday, May 17
Location: Thomas J. Niland Complex, Syracuse, NY
Time: 1:00 pm EST
Records: #2 Bryant (14-3), #1 Le Moyne (14-1)

GAME NOTES (pdf)

Second year coach Mike Pressler has led the Bulldogs to a 14-3 record and No. 2 national ranking. The Bulldogs will be making their first NCAA appearance Saturday when they travel to top-ranked Le Moyne for a 1 pm game. The winner of the game advances to next week's NCAA Championship at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. www.dspics.com

The second-ranked Bryant University men's lacrosse team will open NCAA tournament play for the first time in the program's history when the second-ranked Bulldogs travel to Syracuse, NY to face top-ranked and defending national champion Le Moyne in the national semifinals on Saturday, May 17 (1 p.m). The winner of the game will advance to the NCAA Championship May 25 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and Limestone will meet in the other semifinal.

BULLDOG QUICK BITES

* Bryant is making its first NCAA appearance in the Division II championships

* Bryant has won a school-record 14 games this season

* The No. 2 ranking is the highest ever in the program's history

* Bryant captured its first conference tournament title May 4 with a 5-4 win over Le Moyne.

* Bryant is 2-2 in the last four meetings with Le Moyne, 1-1 this season

* Bryant won the 2007 conference regular season title with a 9-0 record

* Bryant is 25-7 in two seasons under coach Mike Pressler

* Bryant will move to Division I starting next season

HOW THEY GOT HERE
Led by the potent junior attack of Kevin Hoagland (43G, 14A), Bryan Kaufmann (35G, 22A) and Matt McKeefrey (19G, 22A), the Bulldogs opened the year 3-3 but following a regular season loss to Le Moyne, the Bulldogs rattled off 11 consecutive wins including two NE-10 tournament wins to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament. Bryant opened with a 16-7 win over Adelphi but losses to C.W. Post and NYIT had the Bulldogs 3-2 entering the Le Moyne game on March 21. But with the play of sophomore All-American specialist Andrew Hennessey and freshman middie Gary Crowley (22G,11A), the Bulldogs bounced back in a big way, finishing the year 9-1 in the conference regular season and posting a 9-8 overtime win over Merrimack in the semifinals and a 5-4 win over Le Moyne in the finals. Hennessey has turned in a tremendous season, winning 236 of 329 (.717) face-offs including 11 of 13 against Le Moyne in the finals.

LAST MEETING WITH LE MOYNE - Bryant 5, Le Moyne 4 (NE-10 Championship)
Junior Matt McKeefrey scored three goals including the game winner in the fourth quarter to lead second-seeded Bryant University to a 5-4 upset of top-ranked Le Moyne in the Northeast-10 Conference men's lacrosse championship on May 4. Bryant (14-3) entered the game 0-4 all-time in conference championship games, losing all four previous title games to Le Moyne, including a 5-4 decision to the Dolphins in last year in Smithfield, RI. After a tight first half that saw both teams head to the locker room at the half tied 1-1, Le Moyne used three third quarter goals to take a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame where the Bryant offense finally came to life. McKeefrey's unassisted goal in the opening minutes made it 4-3 with 13:29 remaining. Four minutes later, the Bulldogs pulled even as freshman Gary Crowley made it 4-4 with 9:01 left. McKeefrey would later tally what would prove to be the eventual game-winning goal with 6:29 left. Goalie Michael Kennedy was named the Most Outstanding Player with nine saves in the game.

Bryant vs. Le Moyne 2-14

2000 at Le Moyne, 6-19 L

vs Le Moyne (NE-10), 9-17 L

2001 LE MOYNE, 9-10 L

at Le Moyne (NE-10), 8-19 L

2002 at Le Moyne, 4-12 L

at Le Moyne (NE-10), 11-17 L

2003 LE MOYNE, 7-9 L

2004 at Le Moyne, 6-12 L

at Le Moyne (NE-10),6-7 L

2005 LE MOYNE, 1-8 L

at Le Moyne (NE-10), 3-14 L

2006 at Le Moyne, 5-10 L

2007 LE MOYNE, 10-9 W (OT)

LE MOYNE (NE-10), 4-5 L

2008 at Le Moyne, 3-8 L

at Le Moyne (NE-10), 5-4 W

BRYANT TO JOIN NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
This will be Bryant's final season as a member of the Division II ranks and will begin a Division I schedule in 2008-09. As a school, Bryant will be joining the Northeast Conference for all sports following a four-year transition period. Bryant will fast track men's lacrosse in order to become a Division I member in 2010-11. This week, the Northeast Conference announced the addition of a men's lacrosse as a championship sport. The NEC includes members: Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, Long Island, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis NY, St. Francis PA, and Wagner. The men's lacrosse league will include Mount St. Mary's, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, and Wagner along with Bryant in 2010-11.