Lax opens at home Saturday (1 p.m.)

LACROSSE HOSTS SAINT JOSEPH'S SATURDAY IN 2012 HOME OPENER (1 P.M.)

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team will look for its first win of the young season Saturday when the Bulldogs host Saint Joseph's University in their 2012 home opener at the Bryant Turf Complex.

Both the Bulldogs and the Hawks enter the game 0-1 on the season after Saint Joseph's fell, 11-4, to Lehigh in its opener last Saturday. Bryant took a 10-8 loss to Colgate on the road last week to kick off its 2012 campaign, paced by a career-best four goals and five points from sophomore middie Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.).

"Each season there are two openers," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "There is the opening game of the season and then there's your home opener. Our guys are very excited to begin our 2012 home schedule and play in our first of seven home games this Saturday against the Saint Joe's Hawks."

Saturday's home debut marks the second meeting between these two programs, as the teams kicked off the all-time series in Philadelphia in last year's season opener, with the Bulldogs taking away a 14-3 victory. Last year's game included 20 combined saves, with starting netminder and captain Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) recording nine. Attackman Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.) recorded six points off five goals and a helper and was one of 11 Bulldogs to score in the winning effort.

Saint Joseph's junior Kyle Williams, who notched three of the Hawks' four points in last year's bout and is the team's top offensive veteran, returns in a starting role for the visitors. And while the Hawks have added a 13-man rookie class in 2012, one of the key changes between last year's squad and the 2012 edition won't even set foot on the playing field.

A brand new coaching staff will man the Saint Joseph's bench when the teams clash Saturday afternoon, and first-year head coach Taylor Wray and his assistants Dan and Michael Keating are all minds that Pressler knows well. Wray, a 2003 Duke graduate, and brothers Dan ('99) and Michael (' 01) all played for Pressler throughout their collegiate playing careers.

"A lot of the Saint Joseph's personnel is the same as the last time we played," said Pressler. "With the arrival of Taylor Wray and the Keating brothers, the future of Saint Joe's men's lacrosse looks very, very bright."

Ryan McGee leads the Hawks' after a single game this season with two points off two goals (team-high six ground balls), while Augustus Quinzani and Bobby Hurley also recorded tallies against Lehigh. Saint Joseph's was outshot, 38-30, on the day, and Griffin Ferrigan made 18 saves between the pipes, but it wasn't enough for the win as the Hawks only went 4-of-17 as a team from the faceoff X.

Rookie Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) will return to the X for the Bulldogs after a stellar career debut a week ago, going 11-of-21 at the faceoff while picking up a game-high 10 ground balls. Pressler will count on Massa's success against the Hawks to jumpstart the Black and Gold offense, a group that that looks to get back on target, literally, after the unit tallied just three of the Bulldogs' eight goals in the season opener.

"Our issue against Colgate was our inability to shoot the ball on target," said Pressler. "The shots were there, but we missed the cage too many times, and that has been a point of emphasis in practice this week as we get ready to play the Hawks this Saturday."

The 2012 home opener kicks off Saturday at the Bryant Turf Complex at 1 p.m. Can't make it to the game? Watch all the action LIVE on the Bulldog Sports Network at www.bryantbulldogs.tv.