Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse at Holy Cross on January 31, 2026 , Win , 15, to, 10
Men's Lacrosse
at Holy Cross
Final
15
-
10
Providence College Athletics
Friday, February 6
Providence, R.I.
2:00 p.m.
Providence College
vs
Bryant
Men's Lacrosse Game Notes vs. Bryant
2/6/2026 11:01:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Friars will host the Bulldogs for their 2026 home opener on Saturday, Jan. 31.
PROVIDENCE SET TO FACE BRYANT… Providence will host its 2026 home opener versus Bryant on Friday, Feb. 6. Faceoff is set for 2:00 p.m. and will be available to watch on Friars Live.
LIVE STATS AND STREAM… The game will be broadcast live on Friars Live. Links to the broadcast, in addition to live stats, can be found on Friars.com by navigating to the men's lacrosse schedule.
SERIES BREAKDOWN... Saturday's game between Providence and Bryant will mark the 23rd meeting between the two programs all-time. Bryant leads the series 12-10.
MOST RECENT MEETING... The two teams last met in the 2025 season in Smithfield, R.I. The Friars defeated Bryant, 15-12. Parker Kennedy led the Friars' offense with a career-high three goals. Rhett Chambers and Richie Joseph each added two goals and two assists.
OCEAN STATE CUP... The Friars' game against Bryant marks the first of two
games in the annual Ocean State Cup. Providence will host Brown on
Saturday, Feb. 21 at noon. Brown will host Bryant on Saturday, Feb.
28 at 12:00 p.m.
Providence was last crowned Ocean State Cup Champion during the 2020
season. Providence defeated Bryant, 16-9, and Brown, 13-12, in overtime
MOST RECENT MEETING... Providence defeated Holy Cross in its season opener, 15-10, on Saturday, Jan. 31 in Worcester, Mass.
Rhett Chambers led the Friar offense with a career-high six points. Chambers tallied a career-best four goals and added two assists. Matt Lazzaro followed with a career-highs in points (five), goals (three) and assists (two). Jay Wilkerson also added a career-best four goals for the Friars.
Cam Sterritt made his collegiate debut between the pipes for the Friars. The redshirt freshman recorded 10 saves and posted a save percentage of .600.
Chris Esposito went 15-22 from the face-off 'X' and picked up five ground balls in his Providence debut.
Ian Olenik recorded a career-best two assists to go along with three ground balls and one caused turnover.
RICHIE JOSEPH MOVING UP ALL-TIME CAREER SCORING AND GOALS LIST... Senior Richie Joseph is currently 17th on the Friars' all-time scoring list and nineth on the all-time career goals list. He enters the 2026 season with 124 career points on 92 goals and 32 assists.
100-GOAL MILESTONE... Richie Joseph enters Saturday's game with 92 career goals. He needs eight to eclipse the 100-goal milestone in his career. Should he archive the feat, he will become the seventh player in program history to do so.
TWO FRIARS EARN PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST HONORS… Attackers Richie Joseph and Rhett Chambers have been named to the 2026 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Joseph, who earned Preseason All-BIG EAST recognition for the second-straight year, also was named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Joseph was one of nine unanimous selections on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team. Last season, Joseph earned First-Team All-BIG EAST and BIG EAST All-Tournament Team honors.
RICHIE JOSEPH BECOMES SECOND FRIAR ALL-TIME TO BE NAMED PRESEASON BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR... A Friar has earned Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season. Richie Joseph earned the honor heading into the 2026 campaign, while Ryan Bell was recognized last season (2025). The two players are the only players in Providence College men's lacrosse history to earn Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, since the league began sponsoring men's lacrosse in 2010.
HOW THE FRIARS FARED IN 2025... Providence College posted a 7-8 overall record in 2025, including a 3-2 mark in the BIG EAST. The Friars earned the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and fell to No. 2 Villanova, 14-13, in the semifinals. The Friars compiled a 4-2 record at home on Chapey Field at Anderson Stadium and were 3-5 on the road. One of the season highlights was a 10-6 victory over No. 16 Denver in Denver, Colo. The victory helped Providence clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament with one game remaining on the schedule. It also marked the Friars' first win over Denver all-time, snapping a 15-game winless streak to the Pioneers. Providence faced six nationally-ranked opponents during the 2025 season and compiled a 1-5 record.
MEET THE STAFF... Providence enters its fourth season under Head Coach Bobby Benson. He is the first coach in program history to guide the Friars to a BIG EAST berth in three-straight seasons (2023, 2024, 2025). Prior to Providence, Benson spent two seasons at Maryland as the offensive coordinator during the Terps' run to the NCAA title in 2022. Maryland registered a 33-1 record during Benson's tenure, earned two Big Ten Championships and made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Championship game. Casey Brodersen, who spent 12 seasons as the Associate Head Coach at Bryant, was hired by Bobby Benson to serve as Associate Head Coach at Providence in 2023. He helped the Bulldogs to six NEC titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Carroll Kennedy joined the Friars as an Assistant Coach in 2023. Kennedy worked alongside Benson at Maryland during the 2022 season and was previously named USILA Assistant Coach of the Year while at Limestone University in 2015. Shawn Ewert joined the staff for the 2024 season as an Assistant Coach. Before joining the Providence staff, Ewert spent the previous two seasons at Florida Southern, where he served as assistant coach and offensive coordinator. During his tenure, he helped guide Florida Southern to a 25-11 record.
KEY RETURNERS… The Friars are bringing back three out of their top five point scorers from last season. Richie Joseph returns for his senior season after finishing second on the team in goals (37) and assists (11), and third in points (48). Joseph was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. Junior Rhett Chambers will look to build on his successful 2025 campaign. He finished fourth on the team in points (26), goals (18), and assists (eight), all of which marked career bests. Chambers was recognized with NEILA Division I All-New England Second Team honors. Jay Wilkerson will return for his sophomore year after finishing his rookie campaign fifth on the team in scoring with 15 points on 12 goals and three assists.
Senior Dean Metzger will anchor the Providence defense. Metzger started all 15 games for the Friars last season and recorded seven caused turnovers and 20 ground balls. Senior Ian Olenik will provide defensive support at midfield as a long stick midfielder. Olenik registered a team-best 16 caused turnovers and added 25 ground balls last season.
WELCOME TO FRIARTOWN… The Friars welcomed 12 freshmen to the men's lacrosse program in the fall of 2025. The incoming freshmen include Cooper Anderson (Minneapolis, Minn.), Jack Bonello (Great Falls, Va.), Sam Clark (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Aiden Eriksen (Tampa, Fla.), Brady Garcia (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), Luke Jaeger (Southlake, Texas), Cannon Ridinger (Charlotte, N.C.), Nate Smith (Avon Lake, Ohio), Ben Stone (Greenwood Village, Colo.), Cam Wheelans (Oshawa, Ont.), Robby White (Whitby, Ont.) and Trent Yelton (Liberty Township, Ohio).
Additionally, three transfer joined the Friars roster in the fall of 2025. The transfers include junior Chris Esposito (Gloucester, Mass.) from Stony Brook, junior Matt Lazzaro (Franklin, Mass.) from Penn State and junior Cam Mesh (Spencerport, N.Y.) form SUNY Brockport.
FRIARS PICKED TO FINISH FIFTH IN BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL... Providence was picked to finish fifth in the 2026 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll (11 points). Georgetown was picked to win the league, having collected five first-place votes and 25 points overall. Villanova (21 points) was second and Denver (16 points) was selected third. Marquette was selected fourth (12 points). Rounding out the conference standings was St. John's (five points).
SCOUTING BRYANT… The Bulldogs closed out the 2025 season with a 10-5 overall record and a 5-1 mark in America East play. They averaged 12.33 goals on 41.5 shots per game and generated 9.6 caused turnovers per game. Bryant was picked to finish second in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
BULLDOGS TO WATCH… Bryant returns its top two goal scorers from last season. Redshirt sophomore attack Dawson Rielly led the Bulldogs with 46 points on 41 goals five assists. Rielly was selected to the 2026 America East Preseason All-Conference Team. Sophomore midfielder Zac Amend finished second on the team in goals with 24.
The Bulldogs return senior defender Luke Mead for the 2026 season. Mead registered 20 caused turnovers and 24 ground balls last season. He was also named to the 2026 America East Preseason All-Conference Team.
Junor goalie Scott Einarson returns for Bryant after a productive season. Einarson started all 15 games between the pipes and registered a .515 save percentage on 10.12 goals allowed per game.
WHAT'S NEXT... Providence College will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to face No. 13/13 Harvard on Saturday, Feb. 14. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
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Attack / Midfield
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/ Men's LacrosseMen's Lacrosse vs. Bryant
Friday, February 06
LAX vs. Marquette
Saturday, April 17
LAX vs. St. John's
Saturday, April 10
LAX vs. Denver
Saturday, March 27
