Bulldogs host Saint Joseph's Saturday at 1 p.m.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team will look for its first Northeast Conference victory of 2017 Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs host league rival Saint Joseph's at the Bryant Track & Turf Complex for a 1 p.m. faceoff.

The Hawks (3-5) enter the game looking to avoid their second losing streak of the season after suffering defeats at the hands of Drexel (12-8) and Delaware (12-7), and Saturday's matchup will serve as Saint Joseph's NEC opener.

In the all-time series, the Hawks and the Bulldogs (4-5) are even at 3-3, but Saint Joseph's has had Bryant's number in recent years, going 3-1 against the Black and Gold since joining the NEC in 2014. Bryant has never won a regular-season league bout against the Hawks, though all three losses have come by a combined four goals.

Bryant's most recent win over the Saint Joseph's came in the 2015 NEC Championship Game, when the Bulldogs rode a 10-6 victory to their fourth-straight tournament title and third-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.

"What has held true in the past will most likely hold true tomorrow," said Bryant head coach Mike Pressler. "Another one-goal game decided late, with great players making great plays to win it."

Offensively, junior Jason Kelly has burst onto the scene for the Hawks in 2017, leading the side with 19 points off 15 goals and four assists, more than doubling his career totals entering the season. Alongside classmate Chris Blewitt (13g, 5a) and senior Kevin Reidinger (12g, 2a), Kelly has filled the hole left by the loss of reigning NEC Player of the Year Mike Rastivo, who suffered a season-ending injury this fall.

"You never overcome losing a great player like No. 3," said Pressler of Rastivo. "There is no replacement for that player. He is as good a player offensively as there is in college lacrosse.

"Both Bryant and Saint Joe's have been inconsistent throughout the season so far, and we are both struggling to find our identity," Pressler added. "But there is nothing more important on your schedule than NEC games."

Danny Manning has been strong at the faceoff X, where the senior is 75-of-126 (.595) with 19 ground balls this season, but it is Austin Smith who leads the team with 32 ground balls and seven caused turnovers on the year.

Without Rastivo, however, the anchor of this Hawks side comes between the pipes in 2016 NEC Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Jones, who enters the contest ranked 20th nationally in saves per game (11.38). He has a 10.21 goals against average on the year in spite of facing some of the nation's top offenses – No. 2/3 Maryland (16 goals), No. 19 Penn (10g) and No. 18/26 Duke (16g) – and has held three opponents to single-digit scores.

"It all comes back to us," said Pressler. "We have to hit the goal. We missed the goal 18 times against Mount St. Mary's. We missed 24 times against Drexel. If you miss the goal, you let the goalie off the hook. We have to find a way to get our shots on goal and make him make saves."

Saturday's 1 p.m. faceoff between Saint Joseph's and the Bulldogs can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com.

SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS
The Bulldogs' man-up and man-down units have excelled this season, ranking third and 15th nationally in those respectively categories. Bryant is 17-of-31 (.548) with the man advantage and ranks behind just Maryland (.643) and Duke (.560). When the Bulldogs are against the extra man, they keep opponents off the board 72.7 percent of the time (6-of-22).

FAN CAM
Junior attack Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) has proven to be among the nation's most accurate shooters this season, currently ranking third in shot percentage. Of his 29 total shots, 21 have been on goal and 16 have gone in the goal. His 55.2 percent conversion rate is bested only by Albany's Justin Reh (.565) and Canisius's Mario Caito (.556). Other top-100 national rankings for Ziegler include: man-up goals (42nd), assists per game (76th), points per game (82nd) and goals per game (99th).

A PATH IN
The last time the Bulldogs failed to put together consecutive wins to start a season was 2015, when Bryant opened the year on a 2-7 stretch. The Bulldogs won games 10, 11 and 12 and emerged victorious in six of the season's final nine contests to top Saint Joseph's in the 2015 NEC title bout and earn the program's third DI NCAA tournament berth.