Mike Pressler Calls 2022 Bryant Men’s Lacrosse Team “One of The Best”

The Bryant University men’s lacrosse team begins its 23rd season and its 16th under the direction of head coach Mike Pressler on Saturday, Feb. 12 at Providence.

Team 23 will look to write its own chapter in what has been of the most successful lacrosse programs in New England. The Bulldogs are coming off a 9-4 campaign that saw them win their sixth Northeast Conference championship.

Attack

Bryant returns 81 percent of its scoring from a season ago. Leading the way will be Logan McGovern and Marc O’Rourke. McGovern led the Black and Gold with 46 points, finishing with a DI program record 2.36 assists per game. He enters his fourth season in the program with 76 points in 21 career games.

O’Rourke is back as one of the best offensive players in the nation. He appeared in just five games last season but posted 25 points, setting a DI program record 5.00 points per game. O’Rourke enters his final season in Smithfield with 112 goals and 159 career points. He has a chance to become the DI program leader in goals and just the second player in DI program history with 200+ points in a career.

The Black and Gold also welcome back a deep core of underclassmen led by last year’s returning leader in goals, Bennett Abladian. The New Hampshire native scored 29 goals and finished with 37 points. He was named the NEC Rookie of the Year. Joining Abladian is Isaiah Davis and Mason Drouin, sophomores that combined for 20 goals and 25 points as true freshmen a year ago.

Midfield

The Black and Gold will feature a deep and experienced midfield unit this spring. Kevin Groeninger is the veteran of the group, having posted 17 goals, 14 assists and 31 points in 19 career games. Sam Goforth, Timmy Hackett, Jon Miller, Keaton Jones, Will Ronan and Aidan Goltz all return after strong performances a season ago. Goforth scored a highlight-reel goal in the NCAA Tournament, while Miller and Goltz were NEC All-Rookie selections. Miller posted 19 ground balls, Goltz registered 16 goals and Hackett registered a goal and an assist in the NEC final. Jones was named a First Team All-New England selection.

Defense

Bryant’s defense will include Brody Rule and LaJhon Jones, a duo that helped the Black and Gold feature one of the league’s top defenses. Rule had 25 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers, while Jones posted 31 ground balls and 15 caused turnovers.

The Bulldogs also bring back experience in the form of Will Milewski and Cole Garvey.

At LSM, Bryant will need to fill the void of Zach Coffey, Jack Horan and Jake Fiske. A pair of transfers, Connor Whalen and Henry Watson will look to fill those voids.

Goalie

Bryant welcomes back First Team All-New England goalie Luke Caracciolo. The Centreville, Va., native returns for his fourth year as Bryant’s starting goalie. Caracciolo is 14-15 with a .532 save percentage in 29 career starts. He’s coming off a career year, going 9-3 with a .527 save percentage and 12.25 saves per game.

The Bulldogs will have great depth at the position as Brennan Hart, Ean Patry and Teagan Alexander all return. Rand Paddack also joins the group after a standout prep career.

Faceoff

Two of the top faceoff men in the country return at the X for the Black and Gold in 2022; Jacob Alexander and Nathan Laliberte. Alexander was brilliant at the end of last year, dominating the X against All-Americans Zach Cole and Pete LaSalla. Alexander set a program record with 30 faceoff wins against LIU and finished the year 128-of-221 (.579). He added six goals and three assists for nine points.

Laliberte was equally dominant prior to an injury. He won 60 percent of his faceoffs (82-137), including 12-of-17 in his collegiate debut vs Providence. Laliberte went on to win 15+ faceoffs four times, including 18-of-26 at Stony Brook.