April 26, 2007
MEN'S LACROSSE NOTES ...
BULLDOGS HEAD TO SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE FRIDAY
The fourth-ranked Bryant men's lacrosse team, winners of
nine-straight, head to Manchester, New Hampshire to face Southern
NH at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs clinch their first-ever
Northeast-10 Conference regular season title on Tuesday with a
12-11 win at Merrimack. The win gives Bryant a first round
bye in next week's NE-10 tournament.
NORTHEAST-10 TOURNAMENT ON THE HORIZON
Bryant will have a bye for the quarterfinals of the NE-10
tournament and will host a semifinal round game on Friday at
Bulldog Stadium at 4 pm. The championship will take
place Sunday at the highest remaining seeded team.
BULLDOGS NO. 1 IN NORTH REGION
The Bryant men's lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in the
latest NCAA regional poll. There are three regions in
Division II, with Bryant ranked No. 1 in the North Region, ahead of
No. 2 Le Moyne and No. 3 Saint Michael's. Mercyhurst is No. 1
in the Central Region followed by NYIT at No. 2. Limestone is
No. 1 in the South with St. Andrew's next at No. 2. The top
three teams in each region plus one at large from any region will
advance to the NCAA Championships.
NE-10 STATISTICS
The Bulldogs are currently second in the Northeast-10
Conference in scoring with a 12.9 goals per game average ... Kevin
Hoagland and Bryan Kaufmann are currently third and fourth in the
conference in scoring with 2.8 and 2.6 goals per game
average. Kaufmann is ninth in the conference in assists with
13 this season.
FINDING A WAY
Tuesday night's game certainly wasn't pretty, but the
Bulldogs somehow managed to climb out of an early 8-3 hole and
rallied late to defeat Merrimack 12-11 at Warrior Field. The
win evens the all-time series with Merrimack at 5-5 and avenged two
losses last year to Merrimack in 2006. The Bulldogs were
sluggish at the start and Merrimack certainly took advantage.
With All-American face-off specialist Andrew
Hannessey on the sideline injured, the Bulldogs struggled
winning just nine face-offs. But perhaps the biggest win came
late in the fourth when Bryan Molk beat Red
Eichelberger quickly and raced downfield for the game winner.
The game was one of Molk's best of his career as the senior
co-captain led the way with four goals and added one assist.
The Bulldogs came alive in the fourth quarter, blitzing the
Warriors with 13 shots and goalie Michael Kennedy
kept the Warriors scoreless in the fourth and finished with seven
saves.
BULLDOGS TIE WIN STREAK
Bryant is currently in the middle of a nine-game win
streak, tying the school record for consecutive wins set by the
2004 team. This year's team opened the year 0-2, falling to
Adelphi and C.W. Post at home but have not lost since the March 3
game against CW Post. Bryant's 17-12 win over Saint Andrew's
helped get the streak going. Bryant will have two more
regular-season games, starting Friday when the Bulldogs wrap up
conference play with a 4 p.m. game at Southern NH. The team
will immediately head for Baltimore, Maryland where they'll face
Limestone this Sunday starting at noon. The game will be
played at Johns Hopkins University.
