Bulldogs head to Bucknell Saturday at 1p

BRYANT HEADS TO BUCKNELL FOR FIRST ROAD GAME OF 2013 SATURDAY AT 1 P.M.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team hits the road for the first time in 2013 when the Bulldogs travel to Lewisburg, Pa., to take on Patriot League stronghold Bucknell University Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs (0-2) enter the contest off back-to-back home heartbreakers against a pair of ranked opponents in No. 10 Colgate, 14-13 in overtime, and then-No. 16 Fairfield, 8-6, while the Bison (1-1) have split a pair of one-goal outings with a 9-8 road victory over Delaware and suffering a 12-11 upset at Mount St. Mary's.

"We have a lot of new faces in the lineup, and the first road game of the year is always a challenge, especially for those young guys," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler, "and we're playing a Bucknell team that has been very, very good at home for a number of years."

Bucknell began the season ranked No. 18 in the preseason national polls but has fallen out of the top 20 following last week's loss at fellow Northeast Conference member Mount St. Mary's. Todd Heritage leads the Bison with seven goals in the opening two contests, while midfielder David Dickson has dished the ball off to a goal scorer six times in a pair of starts.

Chase Bailey follows with five points early in the year (3 goals, 2 assists), while Sean Doyle and Thomas Flibotte have also found the net three times. Peter Burke and Brock Ghelfi complete Bucknell's scoring ranks with a pair of tallies in 2013. The Bison have outshot their opponents, 69-56, on the young season and have a trio of man-up scores in 11 opportunities.

Saturday's hosts have struggled at the faceoff X, turning to a faceoff by committee-type scheme to get three different looks from the combination of sophomore Gavin Sullivan (8-20), freshman Eric Monfort (8-18) and senior Ryan Gutowski (2-7). The Bison have just a .391 faceoff winning percentage (18-46) as a team in their opening bouts though — a number that won't hold up against the 2013 success of Bryant sophomore Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.).

"We expect Kevin to see multiple opponents at his position, which brings a much different challenge," said Pressler. "You have to get ready for multiple guys rather than just one."

So far this season, Massa boasts a .714 success rate on the restart, having taken all 49 faceoffs for the Bulldogs in 2013. He also leads the side with 26 ground balls, picking up a career-high 14 against Fairfield while going 15-of-18 at the X.

Bryant's offense has been paced this season by junior Alex Zomerfeld (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) and sophomore Brian Schlansker (Glenville, N.Y.), who have each contributed three goals and a pair of helpers on the year. Six other Bulldogs have two tallies in two games this season while 13 players have registered at least one point.

And while the Black and Gold have been getting their looks on offense, the Bulldogs are struggling to find their accuracy, putting just half of their total fires on net and scoring on less than 24 percent of the shots they've taken.

"The coaches create the offense to give guys the opportunities, but at the end of the day, the players have to put the opportunities away, and we are counting on our guys to shoot the ball a heck of a lot better than they did a week ago," said Pressler.

Bucknell will roll out senior goalie Kyle Feeney to try to stop those shots, and the Greenwich, Conn., native has put up strong numbers in a 1-1 start, turning away 16 while posting a 9.96 goals against average and .485 save percentage.

The Bulldogs have also received solid outings between the pipes from a pair of netminders in sophomore Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) and rookie Tom Carey (New Canaan, Conn.). The duo has combined for 20 saves and a .476 save percentage.

"The season is still young, but we have not put four quarters together yet," said Pressler. "We've found ways to beat ourselves in our first two games, and you can't do that and expect to win against teams the caliber of Fairfield, Colgate and certainly Bucknell."

Saturday's meeting marks the first time these two programs have matched up.

"Traditionally, the Bison have been one of the frontrunners in the Patriot League, and Frank Fedorjaka has done a great job with them," said Pressler. "Both teams are coming off very tough losses, and both teams are excited to play again and hopefully erase some of those negative feelings from a week ago."