Bulldogs win big on Senior Day, secure a place in MAAC Tournament with 5-1 victory over Saints

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With a chance to capture a spot in the MAAC postseason, the Bryant University field hockey team rose to the occasion, defeating Siena, 5-1, on Sunday's Senior Day in Providence.

Freshman Freya Ward (Haywards Heath, England) had a career day, earning five points off two goals and an assist. The midfielder scored both of the Bulldogs' (4-12, 4-2 MAAC) first two goals within the first nine minutes of play to give the hosts a 2-0 edge over the Saints (3-10, 2-3).

In the seventh minute, senior Elena Borovskis (Pequannock, N.J.) turned at the top of the circle and passed to classmate Victoria Danby (Lancaster, Mass.) who took an initial shot that was saved by freshman keeper Mary Crumlish. Ward was there to clean up the deflection off the save to give Bryant a 1-0 advantage.

In similar fashion, Ward was in front of the cage to put home the deflection off senior Jessica Fleet's (Londonderry, N.H.) initial shot in the ninth minute that put Bryant up 2-0. Just five minutes later, Fleet got her stick on the end of Danby's shot from the top left of the circle, recording her first-career goal to give the Black and Gold a dominate lead in the first half.

Siena scored their only goal of the game before the end of the opening period when sophomore Aubrie Bleier dribbled down the right side past a number of Bryant defenders and crossed the ball in front of the cage where senior Danielle DeGroot was there to finish right side.

The second half was all Bryant as the Bulldogs outscored the Saints, 2-0, including goals by freshman Floor van Dommelen (Berg en Dal, Netherlands) and Danby. In the 52nd minute, van Dommelen took a few touches on the ball before turning and shooting from the top left of the circle, finishing past Crumlish to regain Bryant's three goal lead, 4-1.

Danby put the cherry on top of senior day, scoring her sixth goal of the season and 20th-career goal off a Bryant corner. Ward inserted the ball to sophomore Leyna DiMarco (Glastonbury, Conn.) who provided the stick stop to set up Danby for the score, as Bryant solidified a place in the MAAC Tournament with a dominant 5-1 victory over the Saints.

"Our game plan today was to stay disciplined and play together as a team," said head coach Shaunessy Saucier. "We were able to play a lot of girls and have everyone positively impact the game."

Bryant joins Monmouth, the 2016 MAAC Regular Season Champions, as the only team in the league currently with at least four conference wins. With a number of league games still to be played, the Bulldogs will await the results from next weekend's conference matches to learn where they shake out in the standings. The Black and Gold can rank as high as second in the postseason if Fairfield loses their final conference game to LIU Brooklyn and if Siena defeats Rider. Bryant could finish in third if Siena defeated Rider and fourth if Rider beat Siena next Friday.

"Since the end of last season, this team has been extremely dedicated to making back to the conference tournament," said Saucier. "We showed great resilience this year with how many losses we faced in a row and to be able to bounce back from those and make the tournament is everything."

Regardless of where the Bulldogs rank in the tournament, they are thrilled to be back in the postseason for the first time since 2013 and will continue their mission to improve each game. Bryant wraps up its regular season campaign with a nonleague match against Holy Cross on Sunday, October 30 in Worcester at 3:05 p.m.