Bulldogs Head West for Pair of GWLL Contests

April 21, 2005

GO WEST YOUNG MEN: The Bulldogs return to Great Western Lacrosse League action Friday afternoon with the first of two contests in the Rocky Mountain Region when the team faces Air Force at 3 p.m. (MT). Butler will also battle Denver Sunday at noon (MT) before returning to Indianapolis for the team's season finale April 29. Entering the trip, Butler stands at 4-5 overall and 0-2 in GWLL action.

THIS WEEK'S HURDLES: Air Force enters Friday's contest with a record of 3-6 overall and match the Bulldogs with a 0-2 GWLL mark. Conrad Lochocki leads the Falcons with 21 goals, while Will Meister has 29 points. Justin Pavoni has been in net for all but 17 seconds of the 2005 season. Head coach Fred Acee is in his eighth season on the Air Force sidelines.

Denver is 6-4 overall and 1-0 in league play after beating Notre Dame April 7. The Pioneers will host Ohio State Friday before Sunday's match-up with Butler. Matt Brown has 27 goals already this season to pace the team. Jamie Munro, in his seventh season at Denver, is one win shy of No. 50 for his head coaching career.

THE SERIES: Butler owns an 8-3 all-time mark against Air Force and has split 10 meetings with Denver. The Bulldogs have made the trip west five times and have come away with two wins in 1997 and 1999, splits in 1995 and 2001 and two losses in 2003.

QUICK SHOTS: Butler's top four scorers this season - Grant Albertson (21 points), Cliff Smith (19), Nick Vosburgh (17) and Jason Donati (16) - are all newcomers...Butler announced the first recruiting class of the Stan Ross era earlier this week. The 12 players will arrive at Butler in August...goalies Sam Ashley and Ryan Kaiser have shared time in net in the last four games.

STAN THE MAN: Head coach Stan Ross is in his first year on the Butler sidelines, arriving in Indianapolis after six seasons as the top assistant at Towson. While at Towson, Ross helped to lead the Tigers to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Ross was also a part of the coaching staff at Princeton when the team won the 1998 national championship. He is the third coach in Butler lacrosse history. Ross was a stand-out midfielder at Loyola (Md.) College and graduated in 1996.

UP NEXT: Construction began Monday on the renovation of the Butler Bowl. For that reason, Butler's season finale Friday, April 29 has been moved to Varsity Field. The 4 p.m. face-off against Fairfield will include a pre-game tribute to the four 2005 seniors (Sam Ashley, Anthony Crimmins, Mike Marrapese and Kyle Tietjen).

NEED MORE INFO?: Up-to-date statistics, recaps and an online version of the 2005 Butler Lacrosse Media Guide can be found on www.butlersports.com.