PHILADELPHIA – With a fourth-consecutive Northeast Conference title and third trip to the NCAA tournament on the line, the third-seeded Bryant University men's lacrosse team will battle second-seeded Hobart in the NEC Tournament Semifinals Thursday night at Sweeney Field (7:30 p.m.).
The Bulldogs (6-9) enter Thursday's contest looking to avenge a 7-6 overtime loss to the Statesmen (7-6) in the NEC opener in Geneva, N.Y., back on March 21. Bryant finished the season 5-3 following the conference-opening loss, seeing both its offensive and defensive units find their rhythm in the second half of the 2015 season.
Hobart's victory came on the back of three goals from All-NEC First Teamer Alex Love, who ranks second in the league with 2.20 goals per game, and two more scores from second team pick Brendan Saylor. Fellow all-conference second team goalie Jackson Brown turned away 10 in the contest to secure the victory in the overtime thriller.
Like the Bulldogs, the Statesmen rely on solid defense to win games behind an offense that can, at times, struggle to find the back of the net. Jackson leads that charge and has been stellar for the Statesmen throughout the 2015 campaign, leading the league while ranking seventh nationally in both save percentage (.577) and saves per game (12.46). Brown allows 9.18 goals per game, 23rd on the Division I circuit, and anchors a defense ranked 21st in the nation, though fifth in the NEC.
The task of leading Hobart's offense falls on a quartet of double-digit goal scorers, headlined by Love's 22 goals and 27 points in just 10 appearances. Saylor follows with 17 (21 points), while Taylor Vanderbeek (15 goals, 20 points) and Matt Opsahl (14g, 20p) are also proven threats to score. In total, 17 different Statesmen have netting a tally during regular-season action.
The Bulldogs counter with their own solid defense, a unit anchored by a pair of All-NEC First Team selections in junior goalie and two-time NEC Defensive Player of the Year Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md.) and senior defenseman Connor Dent (Havertown, Pa.).
The only NEC netminder to rank in the nation's top-15 in save percentage (10th, .572), saves per game (14th, 10.87) and goals against average (15th, 8.28), Waldt has been nothing short of stellar since conference play began, making 108 saves – including 12 against Hobart in the league opener – while posting a 6.91 goals against average since March 21 (9 games).
Senior faceoff specialist and three-time NEC Player of the Year Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y.) is the other half of arguably the strongest duo down the middle in the country, entering Thursday's contest ranked fifth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.651) and third in ground balls per game (8.60). The captain will look to improve upon his previous 9-of-16 mark against Hobart specialist Andrew Spallanzani (7-15) Thursday for the Bulldogs to advance into Saturday's title bout.
The Black and Gold will look to their all-conference attack trio of sophomore Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J.) (All-NEC First Team), junior Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa.) (All-NEC Second Team) and freshman Cam Ziegler (Carlsbad, Calif.) (NEC All-Rookie Team) to lead the Bryant offense, with the line combining for 96 goals and 102 points in 2015. James (28) and Morrell (27) alone account for 45 percent of all Bulldog scoring, with 22 of those tallies coming in league play.
Bryant's top midfield line, led by first-time all-conference first teamer Collins Gantz (Denver, Colo.), will also look to create opportunities on offense as well, as the Bulldogs look to get on the board early and often in the second of two semifinal matchups.
Bryant enters Thursday's 7:30 p.m. faceoff at Sweeney Field on the campus of Saint Joseph's University with a 7-1 all-time mark in NEC Tournament play. Thursday's semifinal can be seen live and free-of-charge on NECFrontRow.com. Fans can check out all of Bryant's 11 all-conference selections here.
The winner of Thursday night's contest will advance to play the winner of the first semifinal between top-seeded Saint Joseph's and fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
