Pressler Packs 17 Games into 2010 Season

from press release

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Head coach Mike Pressler is pleased to announce the 2010 Bryant University men's lacrosse schedule, as the Bulldogs get set for another successful season at the Division I level.

After an impressive 10-5 record in 2009, a season in which the Bulldogs received votes in both national polls, Bryant will continue its history of challenging top-tier competition at home and on the road in just its second season at the top rung of the NCAA ladder.

The program unveils a slate packed with more contests than ever in 2010, as the Bulldogs will face off against the best Division I has to offer. Bryant will play 17 games, six of them at the Bryant Turf Complex, and will also challenge a pair of 2009 NCAA tournament participants.

"In 26 years of college coaching, I can't recall a DI team that played 17 games and no scrimmages," said Pressler, who enters his fourth season as Bryant's head coach. "And obviously, for us this was done by design. With 2010 being the final year of our transition to Division I, we once again needed to give our players something to 'hang their hats on' in regard to the schedule."

Pressler and his Bulldogs take on their biggest challenge in the season opener, as the Black and Gold will kick off the 2010 campaign against 2009 Elite Eight participant and ACC powerhouse the University of North Carolina on the road in Chapel Hill on Saturday, Feb. 13.

"In very similar fashion to our Division I debut a year ago, we will open with one of the top-four teams at the Division I level in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill," said Pressler. "And after only three weeks of spring practice, this will present quite a challenge to our program."

The schedule won't fall off after the opener, as Bryant returns to campus the following Saturday to welcome the University of Vermont on Feb. 20. Four-straight road contests follow for the Black and Gold, who will travel to Army (Feb. 23) and Fairfield University (Feb. 27) before Spring Break takes the Bulldogs on return trips to Kentucky and South Carolina to take on Bellarmine (March 10) and Presbyterian (March 13).

Bryant will play its first future Northeast Conference opponent of the season on March 20, when Wagner visits the Turf Complex. It will be followed by a home match against Stony Brook a week later, when Pressler will face off against Team USA assistant coach and Seawolves head coach Rick Sowell. It will be the second matchup against a member of the Team USA coaching staff after the Bulldogs challenge Joe Alberici's tough Army side in early March.

"I can't thank my fellow Team USA coaches, Joe Alberici and Rick Sowell, enough for giving Bryant the opportunity to play their very talented teams," Pressler said.

April will bring back-to-back contests against local rivals, as Bryant faces off against Providence College for the first time (April 3) and repays Brown's 2009 visit with a game at Stevenson Field (April 6).

The Bulldogs will play three more future conference opponents in Robert Morris (April 10), Sacred Heart (April 17) and Quinnipiac (May 1), a pair of Ivy Leaguers in Yale (April 24) and Dartmouth (April 27) and Patriot League member Holy Cross (April 20) before closing out the 2010 campaign at home against Hobart College on Thursday, May 6.

"It's very exciting to be playing four of our future NEC opponents," said Pressler. "Also to add Providence as well as a rematch with Brown to the 2010 schedule gives us great opportunities for in-state rivalries."

o succeed against its difficult 2010 slate, Bryant will look to its quartet of captains to step into strong leadership roles both on and off the field. That job will fall to graduate students Matt McAllister (East Quogue, N.Y.) and Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, N.Y.), senior Bryant Amitrano (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and junior Anthony Iannello (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.).

"We could not be more pleased to announce these four, chosen by their peers, as our captains and the players who will represent the Bryant University men's lacrosse program in our second year at the Division I level," said Pressler.

McAllister, a repeat captain whose season-ending injury kept him on the sidelines in 2009, returns to lead the Bulldogs again. The midfielder has appeared in 30 career games with a trio of goals and four assists, picking up 40 ground balls.

"What an honor for Matt McAllister to be elected for the second year in a row, even while he has been sidelined by injury and rehab," said Pressler.

Joining him will be fellow grad student Hennessey. Throughout his storied career, Hennessey has been among the best faceoff specialists in the nation, including last season at the Division I level where he boasted the nation's best winning percentage at .711 (248 of 349). He ranked third in the country in ground balls, collecting 7.80 per contest (118 total), and has recorded eight goals and four assists in his career.

"Andrew Hennessey has been one of the most dominate players at his position that I have seen in quite some time," Pressler said. "To finish his senior year at 71 percent at the faceoff X and lead the team in ground balls at the same time is quite a remarkable achievement."

Amitrano enters the captain ranks in his final season with the Bulldogs after appearing in 39 contests since arriving on campus in 2007. The third captain out of the midfield, he has 18 career goals, posting eight last season, and four career assists.

"Amitrano has been a tremendous leader by example over his three seasons here at Bryant," Pressler said. "His outstanding work ethic and supreme strength of character are second to none, and his election to the position of captain was all but mandated by his teammates."

The only junior selected to the captain post, Iannello has been a mainstay of the Bryant midfield ranks, appearing in all 31 games of his career as a longstick middie. A scrappy player with tough defense and a knack for causing turnovers, Iannello has two career goals and three assists to compliment 93 ground balls.

"For the last two seasons, Anthony has started every minute for the Bulldogs as a longstick midfielder," said Pressler. "He, like McAllister, was sidelined this fall with injury rehab, but he too was an almost unanimous selection to represent Bryant lacrosse as one of our four captains."

As the 2010 season approaches, these four captains will be looked toward to continue the program's record of hard work, determination, commitment and success.

"All four are outstanding student-athletes and each has been a key contributor in his own way as our program makes this difficult transition to the highest level of college lacrosse," said Pressler. "The leadership of Bulldog lacrosse is in great hands."

Date       Opponent             Time
 
February
Sat 13     at North Carolina    1:00 PM
Sat 20     VERMONT              1:00 PM
Tue 23     at Army              4:00 PM
Sat 27     at Fairfield         12:00 PM
 
March
Wed 10     at Bellarmine        4:00 PM
Sat 13     at Presbyterian      1:00 PM
Sat 20     WAGNER *             1:00 PM
Sat 27     STONY BROOK          1:00 PM
 
April
Sat  3     at Providence        1:00 PM
Tue  6     at Brown             7:00 PM
Sat 10     at Robert Morris *   1:00 PM
Sat 17     SACRED HEART *       1:00 PM
Tue 20     at Holy Cross        7:00 PM
Sat 24     at Yale              1:00 PM
Tue 27     DARTMOUTH            4:00 PM
 
May
Sat  1     at Quinnipiac        1:00 PM
Thu  6     HOBART               4:00 PM