Bulldogs take on top-seeded Hobart for NEC Championship, NCAA berth Saturday at 12 p.m.

GAME NOTES

GENEVA, N.Y. -- The Bryant University men's lacrosse team will look for its fifth NEC Championship and fourth NCAA tournament berth at the Division I level Saturday, taking on top-seeded host Hobart at Boswell Field in Geneva, N.Y. at 12 p.m. The NEC title bout can be seen live on ESPN3 and NEC Front Row.

THE SERIES
This is the 10th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Statesmen and is the fourth-straight year these teams have met in postseason play. All three previous NEC Tournament meetings have come in neutral territory, though, and neither side has yet to beat the other on its home turf. The Bulldogs will look to buck that trend Saturday in the 10th installment of what has proven to be a storied rivalry. Though Bryant owns a 5-4 series edge, the Statesmen have won the last two meetings, including a 13-6 victory in the regular-season matchup. The series has featured four one-goal games in nine contests, and three of Hobart's four wins have come by a single score. Since joining the NEC in 2014, Hobart is 3-4 against the Black and Gold.

TOURNEY TIME
Bryant has never missed the NEC Tournament since the league first began sponsoring championships in the sport in 2011, and the Black and Gold have appeared in four of the six previous NEC Championship games. The Bulldogs fell in the NEC Semifinals in 2011 and 2016, but the Bulldogs have never lost in the title bout.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST HOBART
The Statesmen dominated the Bulldogs three weeks ago in the teams' regular-season meeting in Geneva, despite a career-high 18 saves from junior goalie James Werner. Hobart fired 53 shots — the most allowed by the Bulldogs all season — and saw eight different players register goals behind three from Justin Scott. Bryant senior midfielder Ryan Sharpe recorded his third hat trick of the season in the game, while NEC All-Rookie Team selection Jake Buonaiuto recorded a pair. Junior attack Cam Ziegler netted Bryant's only other tally in the 13-6 loss, while Hobart limited three-time All-NEC First Teamer and Bulldog leading scorer Tucker James to just a single assist in the outing. It was just the second time this season James had been held without a goal. The contest also marked the only blip in a dominant performance against league opponents by junior faceoff specialist Kenny Massa, who went just 5-for-15 from the X.

QUICK HITS
» A Matter of Record: The Bulldogs are 12-5 in the postseason in the program's Division I era. Bryant is an impressive 10-2 in NEC Tournament action and enters its fifth Championship appearance with a perfect 4-0 mark in title games.

» Pulling Rank: Bryant has won NEC Tournament Championships out of the first (2013), second (2012, 2014) and third  (2015) seeds, and will try to win it as a #2 seed for the third time on Saturday.

» Home Field Advantage: Bryant's 12-3 win over #3 Robert Morris in Thursday's NEC Semifinal was the first time the Black and Gold earned a victory on Boswell Field. The Bulldogs have never beaten Hobart in Geneva.

» First to 10: Getting to 10 goals will be key for the Bulldogs, who are 6-1 this season when hitting double-digit scores. The Bulldogs fall to just 3-6 when limited to single-digit scoring. Bryant also has six wins when it has limited its opponent to fewer than 10 tallies.

» Too Close for Comfort: In Bryant's six games decided by two goals or less, the Bulldogs have recorded just a single win. That victory came in an 8-7 win over Saint Joseph's back on March 25. On the flip side, Bryant is 7-1 in games decided by at least four scores, with it's only loss coming at the hands of Hobart.

» Marginalized: Speaking of margins of victory, the Bulldogs saw their largest of the season in the NEC Semifinals Thursday, topping the third-seeded Colonials, 12-3. It was the second-fewest goals allowed by the Black and Gold this year after limiting Wagner to just one on April 1.

DISCIPLINED DAWGS
The Bulldogs are by far the least penalized team in the Northeast Conference this season, seeing only 34 flags fly in their direction to total a league-low 24.5 penalty minutes. Wagner received 39 penalties (31 PIM) in one less game, with the next fewest coming from Saint Joseph's in just 14 contests (46-35.5).

LOOKING SHARPE
Hobart received the second most penalties in the NEC with 53 (43.5 PIM) in 2017. The Bulldogs will look to gain an advantage out of that, as Bryant enters Saturday's championship ranked fifth in the nation for its man-up offense. The Bulldogs have found the back of the net in half of their extra-man opportunities this season (21-42), and are led in the category by eight man-up goals from senior midfielder Ryan Sharpe. Sharpe ranks second in the country in extra-man tallies, behind only Princeton's Gavin McBride (9).

START ME UP
It will be important for the Bulldogs to get off to a good start Saturday, as Bryant has struggled to overcome deficits all season long. The Black and Gold are 0-4 this year when trailing at the half and 0-6 when trailing after three quarters. The Bulldogs have won just two games in which their opponent scored the first goal (2-3) and have just a single win on the year in games they've trailed after the first 15 minutes. The Bulldogs are 0-3 in contests that were tied inside the final two minutes of regulation and have not played an overtime game this season.

MASSA-CRE
Junior faceoff specialist and All-NEC First Team pick Kenny Massa has been stellar at the X all season, but his play against NEC opponents has been nothing short of dominant. Massa leads the NEC and ranks 15th in the nation in both faceoff percentage (.594) and ground balls per game (6.69), but his winning clip rises to 68.1 percent against teams in the NEC. Massa went 14-of-17 from the X in the Bulldogs' NEC Semifinal win over RMU Thursday, and he is better than 50 percent in six of seven contests against NEC opponents. He has eclipsed 75 percent in four of those seven games, and posted his best numbers with a 12-of-13 performance against Wagner on April 1. The mark is the third-highest of any player in Division I this season. One week later against Sacred Heart, the junior went 17-of-22 with 13 ground balls.

TUCK AND ROLL
Senior attack and Bryant leading scorer Tucker James has had a career nothing short of incredible. The captain and four-time all-conference selection holds the program's Division I records for goals (135) and points (220) and ranks fourth and third, respectively, in program history. His 70 starts ties the program mark, and the three-time All-NEC First Teamer hasn't missed a start in four seasons. His 85 career assists are good for third all-time in the Bulldog record books, while his career-high 13-point effort during the 2016 season set a new program single-game mark. James is just the second player in program history to record 50 or more points in all four seasons, and enters Saturday's game with 64 (37g, 27a) as a senior, the most of his career. The NEC leader in assists per game (1.69) and points per game (4.00), James ranks 18th nationally in points per outing while ranking 27th in assists per game and 29th in scoring. Among all active Division I players, James ranks fifth in career points, seventh in career goals and eighth in career assists.

BRICK WALL
Junior goalie James Werner has had an impressive season himself, currently boasting top-10 national rankings in goals against average (sixth, 7.85) and save percentage (eighth, .559). Against league opponents ­— including his 12-save effort against Robert Morris in the NEC Semifinal — those numbers drop to a stingy 6.00 GAA and .635 save percentage. Werner has posted double-digit saves in four of his last five outings and has eight such performances in 2017. He has held opponents to single digits on 12 occasions and has limited competition to a league-low 8.19 goals per game, good for ninth in the nation. His career-high 18 saves against Hobart on April 15 set a new Division I program mark and rank second in Bryant's single-game record book.

SHOOT TO SCORE
Junior attack Cam Ziegler ranks fourth in the nation in shot percentage this season, finding the back of the next 49 percent of the time. His 27 goals have come off just 55 shots, and the three-year starter has not fired more than seven in a game this season. He has four hat tricks on the year, including four-goal games against Manhattan and Brown.

BULLDOGS LAND SIX ON ALL-NEC TEAMS
Led by four All-Northeast Conference First Team selections, Bryant saw six players earn all-league recognitions Wednesday night. Starting attack Tucker James and top defenseman Kyle Mummau headlined the group, as the pair of senior captains earned All-NEC First Team honors for the third-consecutive season. Junior middie Tom Kennedy and redshirt-junior faceoff specialist Kenny Massa joined the duo on the top unit, as the Black and Gold earned the most first-team honorees in the league. Junior midfielder Kyle Cornell earned all-conference second team honors, while redshirt-freshman attack Jake Buonaiuto was selected to the NEC All-Rookie Team. It was the first all-conference recognition for Kennedy, Massa, Cornell and Buonaiuto.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior attack Tucker James and starting defensemen Kyle Mummau and Chas South were elected by their teammates as Bulldog captains in 2017.