Bulldogs look to bury Bears Tuesday (7p)

Full Game Notes

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bulldogs match up against crosstown rival Brown University for the third-consecutive season TONIGHT at the Bryant Turf Complex in Smithfield, R.I. (7 p.m.).

Bryant looks to rebound after a deflating 13-12 loss to Quinnipiac in the Northeast Conference opener Friday night, when a questionable buzzerbeating shot lifted the Bobcats to the one-goal victory with no time left on the clock. Brown enters the game off two-straight losses, including a four-overtime setback to Princeton on April 2 on the road. Both teams enter the game in search of its first April win and its fourth victory of the season. This is the second of two games in which the Bulldogs will host an intrastate opponent, having already topped Providence College, 13-6, back on March 22. The team with the best record against the other two Rhode Island squads will be the winners of the second-annual Ocean State Cup.

THE SERIES

This is the third meeting between Bryant and Brown, as the teams have met each season since the Bulldogs elevated their program to Division I status. The teams faced off last season on the Bears' campus in a tight game, one Brown would win, 9-7, despite a four-goal comeback rally in the fourth frame for the Bulldogs. The sides also faced off in 2009, a game Brown led the whole way through for an 11-7 margin of victory.

BROWN AND OUT

These two teams last met nearly a calendar year ago, on April 6 at Stevenson Field in Providence. Bryant scored a quartet of fourth-quarter goals to tie the score at 7-7 in that matchup but could never get ahead in the intrastate battle against then 20th-ranked Brown, eventually falling to its crosstown rival, 9-7. Max Weisenberg scored a hat trick for the visiting Bulldogs and added an assist on the evening for a game-best four points while Anthony Iannello tallied the game-tier with 5:56 to play in regulation to cap off a late comeback that featured a three-goal flurry in a span of 128 seconds, but Brown pushed back, as Thomas Muldoon got the Bears back the lead, 8-7, with 4:45 on the clock. David Hawley, who would have three scores on the night for the Bears, recorded the final tally of the evening, unassisted, with 2:46 to play for the 9-7 final.

COMMON DENOMINATOR

The Bears and the Bulldogs have faced off against three common opponents so far in 2011, to varying results. Both squads took wins over St. Joseph's, with Bryant taking a 13-4 victory and Brown winning, 11-4. But the Bears saw more success against the other two common opponents, topping both Vermont (12-10) and Quinnipiac (13-4), teams the Bulldogs have fallen to already this season.

X MARKS THE SPOT

Graduate student transfer Trever Sipperly had a huge game last time out against the Quinnipiac Bobcats Friday night at the Bryant Turf Complex. The faceoff specialist went an impressive 21-of-25 from the X on the contest, a new career high, put also went on to pick up a whopping 19 ground balls, nearly doubling his season total entering the game. The number was another new standard for the fifth-year senior, and his achievements were rewarded Monday when he was named the Northeast Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Sipperly leads the Bulldogs with 44 ground balls on the season, good for third in the league, and paces the NEC in faceoff winning percentage with a 60.8 percent success rate, a number that ranks him 11th in the nation. Sipperly also recorded a goal in the outing on his only shot of the day, his fourth tally of the season.

LEAVING PAWPRINTS

The Bulldogs hit two significant milestones with their last win, a 13-6 topping of intrastate opponent Providence College. The victory marked the 125th program win, a threshold accomplished in just its 12th season as a varsity sport, giving the men's lacrosse program an average of more than 10 wins per season in its 11+ -year history. The victory also marked the 50th for Mike Pressler as the head coach of the Bulldogs, the landmark win coming in just his fifth season at the helm in Smithfield. A proven winner, Pressler entered the 2011 campaign No. 7 on the list of winningest active coaches (.697) and is No. 6 by win total among active coaches (276). On the all-time lists, Pressler has the 12th most wins of any coach in Division I men's lacrosse history. By percentage, he is also the 22nd winningest coach the history of the sport at the collegiate level.

20 IS PLENTY, BUT WHY STOP THERE?

Sophomore attacker Peter McMahon has recorded at least one point in his last 23 collegiate games, dating back to February 20, 2010. Over that span, McMahon has scored 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points, and he currently leads the Bulldogs with 20 points off six goals and 14 helpers so far in 2011. The Wilton, Conn. native's streak is tied as the 18th-longest active points scored streak in the nation, and he is tied for 24th in the nation with 1.56 helpers per outing this season. McMahon also leads the NEC in the category.

FIRST STRIKE

Bryant has put itself on the board first in eight of its nine contests so far in 2011, the only outlier coming March 5 against Vermont. But that hasn't necessarily proven to be a helpful action for the Black and Gold, who are just 3-5 when drawing first blood.

UP NEXT

Bryant returns to Northeast Conference play, traveling to Staten Island Saturday (April 9) for a 2 p.m. matchup against Wagner College.