Bulldogs travel to Hobart Saturday for next chapter in rivalry

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's lacrosse team hits the road for its longest and last road trip of the 2017 regular season, taking on Northeast Conference rival Hobart Saturday afternoon in Geneva, N.Y.

There has been a storied, if not long, rivalry between the Bulldogs (7-5, 3-1 NEC) and the Statesmen (5-6, 2-1), a battle that has involved a trio of postseason appearances and featured four one-goal games in eight all-time meetings. Bryant holds the 5-3 edge, but neither side has ever won while on the other's home field.

Hobart is paced by 30-point scorers Chris Aslanian (15 goals, 16 assists) and Frank Brown (18g, 12a), while the team's top goal scorers come in the form of veteran Max Romm and newcomer Justin Scott, who both have 20 tallies on the year. As a team, the Statesmen average more than 40 shots per game.

At the X, Matthew Pedicine (.517) and J Andrew Spallanzani (.465) have almost exactly split time at the faceoff, also scooping up 25 and 24 ground balls, respectively, to lead the side.

Arik Andreen is the only Statesman with double-digit caused turnovers (15), and the senior ranks 38th nationally and fifth in the conference with 1.36 per game. Behind him, Jackson Brown once again graces the crease, posting a .500 save percentage and 11.77 goals against average while averaging an impressive 11.6 stops per contest.

MORE ABOUT THE BRYANT-HOBART SERIES
The Bulldogs won the series opener, 10-9, back in May 2010 before the Statesmen avenged the one-goal decision with a single-tally win of their own, 5-4, the next season. Since joining the NEC in 2014, Hobart is 2-4 against the Black and Gold but put a dagger through Bryant's run to a fifth-straight NEC Tournament title last time out, beating the Bulldogs, 7-6, in the 2016 NEC Semifinals. All three of Hobart's series victories have been by a single score.

ROAD RAGE
The Bulldogs are just 3-4 away from Smithfield this season, but it hasn't slowed down second-leading scorer Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.), who averages just 0.1 goals per game less on the road (1.7) than he does at home (1.8). The crowd he plays in front of also hasn't bothered junior faceoff specialist Kenny Massa (Huntington, N.Y.), whose .608 faceoff success rate on the road trumps his .596 home mark. Just as notably, time away from home has looked good on junior netminder James Werner (New Rochelle, N.Y.), who boasts a 6.91 goals against average and .579 save percentage despite a 3-4 road mark, besting his average at home by nearly 2.00 goals allowed per game.

TUCK AND ROLL
Already the program's Division I leader in career points, senior captain Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) needs just three more points to take over sole possession of third place on the program's all-time leaderboard. James also needs just six more tallies to break the DI mark for career goals currently held by Shane Morrell ('16) and take over fourth all-time.

WHERE DO THEY RANK?
Bryant ranks in the nation's top-10 in a pair of team statistics, and enter Saturday's contest ranked fourth in man-up offense and ninth in scoring defense. The Black and Gold move the scoreboard every other time their opponent takes a penalty, going 18-for-36 on the season so far. Bryant's veteran defense has been just as stellar, limiting opponents to just eight goals per game, tops in the NEC by nearly 1.5 scores.

Individually, Massa ranks ninth in faceoff winning percentage with a .602 success rate, while Werner ranks sixth with a 7.54 goals against average. The pair also rank 12th in ground balls per game (7.00) and 14th in save percentage (.533), respectively. Ziegler – while also ranking in the top-100 in assists per game (90th) and points per game (78th) – has proved to be impressively accurate this season and boasts the fourth-highest shot percentage in the nation (.512).