Lax travels to Fairfield Saturday (1p)

LACROSSE TRAVELS TO FAIRFIELD TO TAKE ON STAGS SATURDAY (1 P.M.)

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team looks for its first road win of the young 2012 season Saturday, as the Bulldogs travel to Fairfield, Conn., to take on Fairfield University at 1 p.m. at Alumni Field.

Both the Bulldogs (1-1) and the Stags (1-0) enter the game seeking their second-straight victory after recording home wins over Saint Joseph's (11-7) and Stony Brook (13-10), respectively, last Saturday. For the Stags, the win also marked the team's season opener, as Fairfield and Bryant face off for the third time in an all-time series currently tied at one game apiece.

Fairfield took the series opener back in 2010 by a 5-3 margin in Connecticut, but it was the Black and Gold who earned the win in the teams' most recent meeting, avenging their 2010 loss with a 6-5 home win over the Stags on Feb. 26, 2011.

That game marked the 2011 Bulldog home debut, and Bryant was outshot in the contest, 32-29. But the Bulldogs nearly doubled up Fairfield in the ground ball battle, 32-19, with goalie Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) and defenseman Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) each recording a game-high six. Attackman Matt Bletzer (Medfield, Mass.) paced the game with two goals and two assists, while Travis Harrington (Vestal, N.Y.) contributed three points, including the game-winning goal with four minutes left in the contest.

Harrington didn't wait for the Stags to score his first goal of the 2012 campaign, though, getting his season scoring started in last Saturday's home-opening 11-7 win over Saint Joseph's. He was one of six Bryant goal scorers in a game led by a Max Weisenberg (Long Beach, N.Y.) hat trick and three assists from Peter McMahon (Wilton, Conn.).

In Fairfield's win over perennial power Stony Brook a week ago, the Stags counted on junior Sam Snow, who notched two of the team's five tallies in last season's faceoff, to return in top form in 2012. And that's just what Snow did against the Seawolves, scoring a career-high five goals on just seven shots while Fairfield also got hat tricks from attackman John Snellman and middie Brent Adams.

The trio accounted for 11 of the team's 13 scores in the opener, and the group is joined on the field by veteran goalie Charlie Cipriano, who recorded nine saves against Stony Brook. Adams and Colin McLiden each collected a game-high of five ground balls in the effort while the Stags outshot the Seawolves, 37-32.

Faceoff man and Drexel transfer Michael Roe will return to the X for the Stags after a 16-of-22 performance in his Fairfield debut to contend with the reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.), who went a combined 27-of-41 in his first two collegiate outings, including a 16-of-20 mark in restarts against the Hawks last week.

Live stats can be viewed online at www.fairfieldstags.com, and fans can watch Saturday's game live at www.fairfieldstags.tv.