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."

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2009-10-27