Bryant takes on Stony Brook Saturday on road

BULLDOGS TRAVEL TO STONY BROOK FOR 4 P.M. BOUT SATURDAY

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team will look for its first win of the season on unfriendly turf Saturday afternoon, as the Bulldogs face off against Stony Brook University at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium at 4 p.m.

The Seawolves (5-3) will be hosting just their third game of the 2013 season while the Bulldogs (0-7) play in their fifth road contest and second of the week after falling to regional foe Harvard, 7-5, Wednesday afternoon.

"This game is going to be a big-time gut check for us," said head coach Mike Pressler. "It's going to come down to our ability to generate a lot of excitement, emotion and energy to beat an outstanding Stony Brook team."

Five of Bryant's seven losses this season have come by two goals or less, with a pair needing extra time for a decision to be made. The Bulldogs are paced offensively by junior linemates Alex Zomerfeld (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) and Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.), as both midfielders boast 10 goals and have dished out six and five assists, respectively.

Zomerfeld has been the most consistent force for the Black and Gold this season, but it is Dunster who has had the hot hand as of late, picking up hat tricks in each of the last three contests.

"It's nice to see No. 16 getting back to his old self," said Pressler. "Nobody has worked harder outside of practice than Colin has in the last three or four weeks to get back to his old form."

Sophomore Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) and senior LSM Mason Poli (Downingtown, Pa.) follow with 10 (8 goals, 2 assists) and 11 (7g, 4a) points, respectively, as Bryant averages 8.1 goals per game despite firing off nearly 41 shots each time out.

 The Bulldogs have shined at the faceoff X this season behind Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.)'s .662 winning percentage (102-154) and 11 ground balls per game, while rookie netminder Tom Carey (New Canaan, Conn.) saw his best performance yet against Harvard earlier this week, making a career-best 17 stops. He sports a .564 save percentage and 8.74 goals against average entering Saturday's showdown.

"Tom had his best outing in a very young season against Harvard," said Pressler. "He was outstanding in the goal and did a great job in the clearing game, which is probably his strength. But as we've said all along, we have 1 and 1A in the goal – we have a lot of confidence in Tom Carey, and we have a lot of confidence in Gunnar Waldt as well."

Stony Brook enters the game looking for its second-straight win over an NEC opponent, having beaten Sacred Heart on the road, 12-10, last Saturday. Jeff Tundo leads the Seawolves with 18 goals and 13 assists, both team bests, and is one of four players with double-digit scores on the year.

Brody Eastwood (15 goals), Mike Andreassi (10 goals, 6 assists) and Challen Rogers (10 goals, 10 assists) join Tundo at the top of the Stony Brook stat sheet, helping to lead a team that averages 9.8 tallies per outing.

Frank Lucatuorto paces the Seawolves with 48 ground balls and is 80-for-186 (.430) from the X this season, while Cole Millican and Bryan Judge each boast double-figure caused turnovers with 10 and 11, respectively. The pair is also second and third on the side in ground balls, with 20 and 14.

The Seawolves hold a slight 2-1 advantage in the all-time series, but the Bulldogs have taken the most recent win, topping Stony Brook at home last season, 10-9, in double overtime. Follow all of Saturday's action live on Twitter with @BryantGameday. Video and audio feeds are also available for a fee and can be found at bryantbulldogs.com.