Saturday, March 14, 2009

BULLDOGS END SPRING BREAK ROAD TRIP AT NO. 5/7 MARYLAND SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN ONE OF SEASON'S BIGGEST CONTESTS

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After nine days and two games, the Bryant University men's lacrosse team is ready to head back to Smithfield, R.I. and wrap up its 2009 Spring Break trip. Almost.

Because before they do, the Bulldogs will look for one more win Sunday afternoon against their highest-ranked competition since opening the season against No. 1 Virginia. To close out their Spring Break road trip, the Bulldogs will meet No. 5/7 Maryland in one of the year's biggest challenges Sunday at Ludwig Field.

The 1 p.m. contest is the first-ever meeting between the two programs, but not between the two head coaches, as Bryant head coach Mike Pressler finds himself back in ACC competition, a conference he once called home, for the first time since the Bulldogs' season opener.

"Certainly for me it's very exciting to be back in College Park," said Pressler. "I have some great memories of 16 years of ACC play and of taking on the Terps - some memorable games, some exciting victories and some heartbreaking defeats. But I think so highly of [Terrapins head coach] Dave Cottle and the Maryland program, and I'm very appreciative of the opportunity to take on the Terps tomorrow at 1 o'clock."

The Bulldogs (4-3) enter the game off a heartbreaking 15-11 loss to No. 14/18 Loyola Tuesday afternoon despite leading at the half and round out their current road trip with one of the toughest competitors on the 2009 slate. But Maryland (4-2) is also coming off a loss, one incurred just yesterday with a 9-7 loss to No. 9/10 UMBC on Ludwig Field.

"We expect the Terps to be, certainly, ready to go tomorrow," said Pressler. "They had, without question, a tough loss at home and we were fortunate to be able to watch it. But we expect the Terps to bounce back and we're expecting one of their best games tomorrow against the Bulldogs."

Despite Saturday's loss, the Terrapins are quite dangerous on their home turf. Maryland is now 7-2 under head coach Dave Cottle at Ludwig Field, where Sunday's game will be held, and is 42-16 when playing on the UM campus since Cottle's arrival at College Park in 2002.

But the Bulldogs are getting used to playing at tough venues away from the safe confines of the Bulldog Turf Complex.

"For us, being away is almost like being at home," said Pressler, whose Bulldogs have played six of their seven games this season on the road. "It's a situation we're very accustomed to, so this is not a new environment for us."

The Terrapins will be playing in back-to-back contests for just the seventh time since 1972, but for the second time this season. They are 6-1 in Game One, but fall to 3-3 in the latter half of the double dip.

"The advantages and disadvantages [of back-to-back contests] will be discussed tomorrow at three depending on who wins," said Pressler, "but the level of preparation for us - we are fortunate to have four days to get ready - is important. And on the other side, they don't have that time to prepare for us."

Four days removed from their last contest, the Bulldogs are enjoying their longest break between games since the first and second contests of the year.

"The tables have turned," said Pressler of his team's extended break, "but Maryland is certainly the favorite here. For us to succeed, we must be at the top of our game from the very first whistle."

Nonetheless, the Terps will have 18 different scorers, led by 14 goals and 11 assists from Grant Catalino, to call on for help in leading them through any fatigue that might linger. Ryan Young follows Catalino with 12 goals and four assists, while nine others have recorded two or more tallies this season.

Sunday's contest should also provide one of the biggest challenges of the season for Bryant faceoff specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.), who will pit his nation's-best .729 winning percentage against Maryland junior Bryn Holmes, whose .645 success rate ranks at No. 4.

"Certainly this will be one of Andrew's toughest individual matches," Pressler said. "But we're counting on him to do what he's done for the last seven games, and for us to be successful at all on Sunday, Andrew must be dominate again."

Between the pipes, Bulldog freshman Jameson Love (Darien, Conn.) will likely match up against Jason Carter, who is the senior half of a goalkeeper tandem the Terps have used all year. In three starts and four games played, Carter is 2-0 on the in 2009 with a 6.64 goals against average, saving 55.3 percent of all shots on goal. Love sports an 8.89 GAA while turning away 64 shots (.520 save percentage) on the season.

Offensively, the Bulldogs are again led by the senior trio of Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.), Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) and Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.). Greer leads the Bulldogs with 19 goals and 12 assists, while Kaufmann and Hoagland chip in 14 and 13 tallies, respectively.

Twelve others have scored for the Bulldogs with 11 scorers depositing more than one goal between the pipes on the season.

"For us to succeed, we have to value the ball much better at the offensive end," said Pressler. "We have to be able to run when it's there and possess it when it isn't. We have to substantially cut down unforced turnovers in the offensive end. We gotta make those transitional, second-chance opportunities [for Maryland] minimal to none."

As the Bulldogs prepare for one of their biggest contests on one of the biggest stages of the season, Pressler knows that the key to victory lies in the team, not in individuals.

"There's no one particular thing," he said. "We gotta do what UMBC did. They beat Maryland because it was a total team effort in all the different categories. For us to be successful, we have to duplicate the same kind of effort and same kind of results. We have to be smart on offense, consistent on defense and force them into a half-field game that allows us to control the tempo."