BOISSONEAU NETS GAME WINNER IN 99TH MINUTE, BULLDOGS SET RECORD FOR WINS IN DI ERA WITH 3-2 DOUBLE-OVERTIME VICTORY OVER PIONEERS

October 31, 2010

BOISSONEAU NETS GAME WINNER IN 99TH MINUTE, BULLDOGS SET RECORD FOR WINS IN DI ERA WITH 3-2 DOUBLE-OVERTIME VICTORY OVER PIONEERS

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With just 1:48 remaining in the second overtime period, senior Elise Boissoneau (Ashburnham, Mass.) took a cross from rookie Olivia Jankins (West Brookfield, Mass.) at the right of the goal mouth and brought the nearly 100-minute affair to an end, tallying game-winning goal to give the Bryant University field hockey team a 3-2 double-overtime win over Sacred Heart on the road in the regular-season finale.

The Bulldogs (8-11, 5-2 Northeast Conference) – who secured themselves the No. 3 seed in the NEC Tournament Friday night with a win over Quinnipiac – recorded their eighth victory of the season in their third double-overtime decision of the year, marking the most wins in a single season since the program joined the Division I ranks.

The Bulldogs got the scoring started at the 15:05 mark with a goal from senior Toby Maltz (Andover, Mass.), assisted by freshman Kayleigh Ballantyne (Gorham, Maine). But for every Bryant score in regulation, the Pioneers (4-13, 2-5) had an answer, and the home side would respond just over seven minutes later when Chelsea Carlson and Stephanie Fazio hooked up with Dana Luhrs to tie the score off a penalty corner.

In the second frame, Jankins put the visiting Bulldogs back on top, 2-1, recording her third goal of the season – all of them the result of penalty corners. Senior Alex Guisti (Walpole, Mass.) notched the assist on the play.

But less than four minutes later, Luhrs would net her second score of the day, again off a penalty corner and again assisted by Fazio and Carlson. The goal would knot the score at 2-2 in the 65th minute, and the clock would run to 0:00 before either side could find open real estate behind goalies Jennifer Gullotti (Waltham, Mass.) and Kim Stow.

Sacred Heart outshot Bryant, 11-6, in regulation, but overtime would stand as a different story altogether. The Bulldogs fired five shots to the Pioneers' one in the first 15-minute extra frame, but wouldn't find a hole in the Sacred Heart defense, pushing the game into the final overtime period.

Bryant sticks fired seven shots in double overtime – surpassing its total in 70 minutes of regulation play – but none was more vital than the one released by Boissoneau at the 98:12 mark, sending the Bulldogs onto the postseason off back-to-back victories.

Stow made 13 saves for the Pioneers, nine of them coming in the overtime periods, while Gullotti made five stops in the win for the Black and Gold. Boissoneau fired six shots to lead Bryant while Luhrs recorded eight to pace the game. Of Bryant's 18 shots, 16 of them were sent on target while just seven of Sacred Heart's 15 shots were on goal.

The Bulldogs finish the 2010 regular-season in sole possession of third place in the Northeast Conference standings and will play in the program and the school's first-ever NEC postseason tournament in the second game of Friday's semifinal doubleheader in Lawrenceville, N.J. against second-seeded Monmouth.