The Bryant Bulldogs are the 53rd team in our 2017 schedule preview. The Bulldogs went 10-5 overall in 2016, and 5-1 in NEC play. Bryant lost to Hobart, 7-6, in the NEC semifinals. Let’s dive into their schedule.
BRYANT
The Bulldogs will participate in scrimmages against Lehigh and Holy Cross, before they open up their season in Riverdale, New York against Manhattan on February 4. They’ll also take on Bucknell a week later in what could be an interesting matchup. In last year’s meeting, the Bison edged the Bulldogs, 11-10. The team’s home opener is against Rhode Island rival Providence on February 17. A week later, Bryant will host defending America East champion Hartford in Smithfield. They’ll wrap up February with a road matchup against Boston University on the 28th.
Bryant remains in the New England area on March 4 as they travel to take on Yale. They’ll stay on the road and travel to Philadelphia to take on Drexel on the 10th. The Bulldogs were surprisingly upset by the Dragons at home last year, 14-5. It was also a big turning point on the team’s season. The team returns home to host Siena on the 14th. Last year’s meeting in Loudonville was postponed due to a stomach virus. NEC play opens up in Maryland against Mount St. Mary’s on March 18. The Bulldogs return home to take on St. Joe’s on March 25 to wrap up the month. Bryant lost last year’s meeting to the Hawks in overtime, 10-9.
The team returns to New York to take on Wagner on April 1, before returning home to host Sacred Heart on the 8th. The big rematch against defending NEC champion Hobart in Geneva is on April 15. Bryant crushed the Statesmen, 15-2, in the regular season meeting before losing 7-6 in the NEC semifinals. NEC play finishes up at home on April 22 against Robert Morris, and the regular season finale is the final Ocean State Cup game of the season at home against Brown on the 25th.
Bryant loses a couple of key contributors on offense in attackman Shane Morrell and midfielder Collins Gantz. But there are a good amount of players that can fill their spots on Mike Pressler’s team. Senior attackman Tucker James led the team last year in all scoring categories and was recently named a captain. He’ll also have junior Cam Ziegler and senior Brett Baker to work with on attack. Midfielders Tom Kennedy, Tom Forsberg, and Ryan Sharpe all return after starting in more than half the games last year, along with Kyle Cornell and Jake Pellegrino behind them. On defense, the starting defense of Chas South, Kyle Mummau, and Anthony Johnson all return, along with LSMs Cody O’Donnell and Jared Kaden. Cornell and Pellegrino, along with possibly Will Hamernick and Nick Hallmark, are good candidates to be defensive midfielders. The team lost solid goaltender Gunnar Waldt to graduation. Junior keeper James Werner is the only goaltender with playing experience after partaking in six games last year. Behind him is sophomore Kevin Beimfohr and freshman Viper Scheele, who name alone should be Bryant’s starting goaltender. Scheele is also the 12th best freshman goaltender, according to Inside Lacrosse. Kenny Massa returns to take the majority of the face-offs for the Bulldogs. With most of last year’s core group of guys back, especially on defense, Bryant has another strong chance to return to the NCAA Tournament.
With Bryant’s schedule released, the NEC becomes the second conference to have all their teams announce their respective schedules. This is also your friendly reminder that no ACC teams have yet to release their schedules.
To see every team’s schedule and which one’s we’ve highlighted, check our our master schedule list.