BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh welcomes Bryant University to the Ulrich Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon as Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese and assistant coach Taylor Wray get a chance to reunite with the man who coached them both at Duke University, Mike Pressler. Pressler is in his third season as the head coach at Bryant and brings his Bulldogs to town with a record of 6-4, which includes a 15-11 victory over Penn last weekend in Rhode Island. Lehigh meanwhile will look to shake off Tuesday's loss at Delaware and get back into the winning column. This will be the first-ever meeting between Lehigh and Bryant in men's lacrosse.

"It will be bittersweet on Saturday when Coach Pressler brings his team into town," Cassese said. "But it will be great to spend time with him, talk with him and just great to see him." He continued, "For myself, (Lehigh assistant coach) Taylor (Wray) and Coach Pressler to all be on the same field once again will be a good thing, but I'd be remiss if I did not say that I want to beat him. Once the national anthem has been played and we exchange handshakes, it will be time to get down to business. At that point it will be all about trying the win the game."

Lehigh faces the tall task of trying to slow down preseason All-American Zack Greer, who has scored 29 goals this season alone to raise his career total to 235, which is the most in NCAA history. Greer is a transfer from Duke University where he played under both Pressler and Cassese and earned three All-America selections.

In the win over Penn last weekend Greer found the back of the net on two occasions, while Matt Larson scored five times and Travis Harrington four times. Larson has scored 11 goals this season, while Harrington has added nine. Greer leads the Bulldogs in assists with 15, while Andrew Hennessey, who has won over 70-percent in the X leads Bryant with 83 ground balls. In goal Jameson Love has sent back 103 shots in 570 minutes of action, posting a goals against average of 9.15 during that time.

Saturday's game marks Bryant's final road contest of the season as they finish out with four home games. The Bulldogs have defeated Sacred Heart, Dartmouth, Wagner, Mount St. Mary's, Detroit-Mercy and Penn, while Virginia, Army, Loyola (Md.) and Maryland have beaten Bryant.

"With Coach Pressler now in his third season, I'm not surprised one bit at the success Bryant is having," Cassese said. "They are a very tough team and have taken on the personality of Coach P, and that is a winner. This is going to be a very hard-fought game on Saturday that is filled with emotion."

Lehigh will be playing at home for the first time since March 10 on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks recently completed a tough four-game road trip. Senior Ricky Cornetta is Lehigh's leading scorer this season and played brilliantly during Lehigh's time on the road. The New York native totaled eight goals and eight assists and enters this weekend with 18 goals and 16 assists for the season. He was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after totaling five goals and eight helpers in a pair of road wins over nationally ranked teams last week.

Junior Brian Bienemann ranks second on the squad with 14 goals and 18 points, while freshman Cameron Lao-Gosney, who earned Rookie of the Week honors on Monday, has totaled 13 goals and three assists. The first year standout registered eight points in the Mountain Hawks pair of victories last week including the game-winning goal in overtime at league foe Army.

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2009-03-27