BRYANT VISITS MOUNT ST. MARY'S SATURDAY AT 1 P.M. IN CRUCIAL NEC MATCHUP
EMMITSBURG, Md. – With its place in the upcoming Northeast Conference Tournament already assured, the Bryant University men's lacrosse team will look to get one step closer to earning hosting rights Saturday afternoon, as the Bulldogs look to stay perfect in league play on the road against Mount St. Mary's.
The Mount (4-9, 0-3 NEC), who has been eliminated from postseason contention, hopes to play spoiler to the Bulldogs (5-8, 3-0), who control their own fate when it comes to the site of the 2013 league tournament after securing its third-straight playoff bid.
"For us, this is the biggest game of the year right now," said head coach Mike Pressler. "A win keeps us No. 1 as we head to the NEC regular-season finale.
"We have so much respect for Mount St. Mary's," he continued, "and we won't play a more senior-laden team, especially on offense, like this group again."
Mount St. Mary's is led by Andrew Scalley's 57 points off the strength of 26 goals and a team-best 31 assists, while each of his linemates in Brett Schmidt (32 goals, 21 assists) and Cody Lehrer (22g, 6a) have surpassed the 20-goal mark on the season as well.
The trio can be a nearly unstoppable combination, responsible or more than 60 percent of the Mount's scoring (80 of 131 goals) and more than 66 percent of the team's points (138 of 208) on the year.
"Those three attackmen are as good a unit as there is in Division I lacrosse," said Pressler. "To contain them, we have to play great team defense, we have to play multiple team defense, and No. 40 has to play very well in the goal."
And the Bulldogs' redshirt-rookie netminder has been doing just that during the team's current four-game winning streak, where Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) is 4-0 with a 7.49 goals against average and a .623 save percentage and has 48 saves in 141 shots faced.
"Gunnar's been on a roll," Pressler said. "He has been very consistent, and he has earned the right to start the last four games. He is playing with a lot of confidence, and we certainly have a lot of confidence in him."
The Black and Gold also have a lot of confidence in their kickstarter at the faceoff X, sophomore Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.). The second-year Bulldog leads the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.716) and ground balls per game (12.54) in 2013, and he has been even better over Bryant's current stretch, going 80-of-100 at the X while averaging 15 ground balls each outing since March 30.
He will face Mount St. Mary's Jon Marsalese, who is 141-of-279 (.505) in 12 contests with 79 ground balls this season. In the teams' two matchups last year – including the 2012 NEC Tournament Championship Game – Massa went 35-of-52 (.673), primarily against Marsalese, but picked up just 12 ground balls in total. Bryant won both contests.
"Kevin has a great matchup against No. 37 [Marsalese] on the white team," said Pressler. "Marsalese dominated the Robert Morris faceoff guy a week ago, as did we, so No. 37 has got Kevin's attention."
On offense, the Bulldogs will counter Mount St. Mary's top three with their own trio of 20-goal scorers in junior midfielders Colin Dunster (Cos Cob, Conn.) and Alex Zomerfeld (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) and redshirt-freshman attack Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.). The latter two pace Bryant's scoring with 33 points apiece, while the former boasts a side-best 23 goals on the 2013 campaign.
"We just have to continue to play well and continue to hit the goal on offense," said Pressler. "That one factor – our shots on goal percentage – has turned around our season for the better."
Saturday's game is slated to begin at 1 p.m. and can be seen live on NEC Front Row.
