COACH, PLAYERS REUNITE AS BULLDOGS HOST NO. 13/11 BROWN IN INTRASTATE SHOWDOWN TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7 P.M.
Monday, March 30, 2009
COACH, PLAYERS REUNITE AS BULLDOGS HOST NO. 13/11 BROWN IN INTRASTATE SHOWDOWN TUESDAY NIGHT AT 7 P.M.
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - Before any Bulldog set even a foot on a field to open the inaugural Division I season in 2009, the Bryant University men's lacrosse team set one clear goal: a winning season.
Eight wins. That's what it would take, deemed the Bulldogs and their head coach Mike Pressler, to make this season a success.
And now, on the biggest of stages for a program new to the Division I ranks, the Bulldogs will have their chance to get win No. 8 against their final ranked opponent of the season when they host No. 13/11 Brown University in an intrastate matchup Tuesday night at the Bryant Turf Complex.
"Our goal from Day One was to win eight plus games and right now we're 7-4," said Pressler, now in his third year at Bryant. "Our sights have been on a winning season and eight victories will accomplish that goal. We have four games to go and Brown's the next one."
But wins one through seven weren't exactly easy, and both wins and losses came against some tough programs. The Bulldogs (7-4) have played four ranked opponents in 2009, but have yet to come out on top. But after tight road games with Virginia, Army, Loyola and the Maryland, Bryant will finally take on a top-20 team on friendly ground.
But the Bulldogs aren't kidding themselves into thinking home field advantage will make it easy - especially with a visiting team that isn't traveling too far from home.
"This is arguably our biggest home game of the season against our newest in-state rival," Pressler said. "This game will happen every year between Brown and Bryant in a home-and-home event for years to come. For any rivalry to be real, it has to be competitive, certainly not one-sided. And we are planning to be very competitive Tuesday night on the Bulldog turf."
For the Bulldogs to be competitive, they will have to hold off not just one of the strongest attack units in the nation, but also get past arguably the game's best goalie in senior Jordan Burke (7.64 GAA; .620 save pct.).
"Their lefty in the goal has been one of the premier goalies for the last couple years in our sport," Pressler said of Burke. "We're going to have to take quality shots and force him to make saves."
But Bryant will pit one of the game's all-time greatest scorers in grad student Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) against Burke in one of the best matchups in 2009. Greer, the NCAA's all-time leading goal scorer, has 236 career tallies to his name, 30 of them coming this season with the Bulldogs.
Greer won't be at it alone, though. Linemates Bryan Kaufmann (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) and Kevin Hoagland (Glastonbury, Conn.) will certainly be looking to pepper the goal with tallies of their own. And while Kaufmann (23g, 11a), Hoagland (20g, 11a) and Greer (30g, 19a) pace 17 different Bulldog scorers, the offense will start and stop with the success of faceoff specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.).
By the numbers the top faceoff man in the nation - he sports a 70.7 percent success rate - Hennessey will likely see a myriad of foes at the X. Six different Bears have taken faceoffs this season with a trio of players splitting most of the duties. Senior Joel Tracy leads the way with a .506 winning percentage (41-of-81), while classmate Nic Bell (.405; 17-of-42) and sophomore Seth Ratner (.365; 19-of-52) are also getting in on the action.
"Andrew certainly got back on track against Lehigh and he has been dominant for 10 of our 11 contests," said Pressler. "We expect him to be on his game from the first whistle at 7 p.m. on Tuesday."
But winning is certainly not just about the play of Hennessey. Bryant's defense will also play a crucial role in the Bulldogs' success, and they will see a particular challenge in containing a top offensive unit of Andrew Feinberg (21g, 11a), Kyle Hollingsworth (14g, 18a) and Thomas Muldoon (13g, 7a).
"This might be the best attack unit we've seen this entire season," said Pressler of the trio. "All three complement each other very well. Our close defensemen will have their hands full Tuesday night."
But, Pressler emphasizes, a win Tuesday night will not come as a result of any one player's success or failure.
"For us to be successful, everybody has to play well," he said. "This has to be an exclusive, total team effort."
But this game, like many of the contests Bryant has played in 2009, features more than just on-field drama. Tuesday's contest also marks the reunion of Pressler and Greer with former Duke University player/teammate and current Brown midfielder Reade Seligmann.
Seligmann, who left Duke in the aftermath of the 2006 Duke Lacrosse debacle, has played an integral role for the Bears over the last two seasons, scoring seven goals and chipping in seven assists so far in 2009.
"Just like when we played Colin Finnerty at Loyola, seeing Reade on the lacrosse field is very pleasing to me," Pressler said of his former player. "He and Zack [Greer] were freshman recruits together, but from 7 to 9 tomorrow night it will be all business between Reade, Zack and myself. But we will certainly look forward to catching up with him after the game is over."
But before the game ends, the Bulldogs hope they have enough to get it done for a big win against a very big opponent.
"Brown is certainly, on paper and live, without question a top-10 team, probably better," said Pressler. "They are a goal away from being undefeated through eight games. They do every phase of the game well - outstanding in the goal, poles that can handle, athletic in the midfield - and they have three outstanding Division I attackmen. They are certainly well coached from top to bottom.
"Brown is certainly the favorite here, but we've been in a lot of situations this spring that the other team has been favored," continued Pressler. "This is not new territory for Bulldogs."
