Men's soccer opens at home Friday

Bulldogs welcome Friars Friday at noon in home opener

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University men's soccer team will welcome Providence College to Smithfield on Friday for their home opener and first round action of the 2012 Ocean State Soccer Classic. Game time is set for 12 p.m. at Sutton Field.

Bryant (0-1) enters Friday's game in hopes of securing its first victory of 2012 after coming off a 2-0 loss to FIU last Friday. The Bulldogs match on Sunday against Florida Atlantic was canceled due to severe weather. The Friars (0-2) are searching for their first win of the season as well, after losing most recently to Monmouth, 3-1, on Monday.

Last Friday, the Bulldogs fell to FIU in a tough 2-0 loss in Miami. The Panthers were paced by two goals from sophomore Quentin Albrecht and a strong performance from their goalkeeper Robin Spiegel.  In the 14th minute, Albrecht headed in a Nicolas Rodriguez helper to give FIU an early 1-0 advantage. Albrecht's second score of the contest came in the 59th minute off a set piece. Lucas Di Croce directed the ball toward the far post where Chris Lamarre set up the sophomore for his second score of 2012, extending the Panther lead to, 2-0.

The Black and Gold started five freshmen in the season opener including goalkeeper Chris Knaub (Yarmouth, Maine) who had one save in his first collegiate appearance.

The Friars are coming off of a successful 2011 campaign, having finished the year with an 11-8-1 overall record, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the second-consecutive season. Providence returns four of its top five scorers from a year ago, including the team's leading scorer sophomore Marcos Ugarte who tallied 15 points on six goals and three assists.

PC suffered its second loss of the season after falling to Monmouth, 3-1. After taking the 1-0 first half lead on an Anthony Baumann penalty kick in the 37th minute, the Hawks went on to score three second-half goals in the span of six minutes to put the game out of reach.

The Bulldogs last met the Friars on Oct. 15, 2008 in Providence, R.I., resulting in a 2-0 PC victory.

Brown University will play the University of Rhode Island Friday in Providence in the other matchup of this year's 2012 Ocean State Soccer Classic. Both the championship and consolation games will be played on Monday, Sep. 3 in Kingston, R.I.

For links to streaming video and live stats of this weekend's games and for all the latest information on Bryant University men's soccer, visit BryantBulldogs.com.