In-state rival Brown too much for Bulldogs

The Bryant women couldn't catch up to the Bears offense in a 14-4 road loss Sunday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team scored three goals in the second half but couldn't catch up to Brown's potent offense, falling to the in-state rival Bears, 14-4, Sunday afternoon in Providence, R.I.

Brown (5-2) raced out to a 4-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the first half before the Bulldogs (1-5) netted their first and only goal of the opening frame at the 19:08 mark, when rookie Katherine Keckeisen (Danbury, Conn.) scored on a free position shot to cut the home team's lead to 4-1.

But the Bears would score three more to end the session and came out of the halftime break to record back-to-back tallies within the first six minutes to take a 9-1 advantage on their own home turf with more than 24 minutes still to play.

Antoinette Lombardi (Wallingford, Conn.) responded with a free position goal of her own with 20:53 left in the game, but the effort wouldn't go unnoticed by Brown, who came back with two more scores for an 11-2 lead.

Sophomore Emily Bogan (Swansea, Mass.) recorded her second tally of the year at the midway point of the second frame off the Bulldogs' third free position goal of the day, but the Bears came up with two more goals before Madeleine Pickett (Stratham, N.H.) finished out the scoring for the Black and Gold with 1:35 left on the clock, assisted by junior Mary Green (Merrick, N.Y.).

Brown would add one more tally from Grace Healy for the final 14-4 margin.

The Bears used three different goalies in the affair, with starter Isabel Harvey getting the win after making five saves in over 22 minutes of action. Maggie Suprey took over for nearly 30 minutes of play spanning the two periods to record four saves, while Brienne Donovan saw 8:13 between the pipes and allowed a single Bulldog goal. Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, N.Y.) got the start for the Black and Gold, making 15 saves in nearly 54 minutes before giving way to freshman Brianna Watt (Babylon, N.Y.), who made one stop in six minutes.

Alexa Caldwell scored a game-best four goals and added an assist for the home side, while eight different Bears recorded at least one tally. Brown went just 1-for-7 on free position attempts, with Bryant posting a 3-for-8 mark in the category. Brown outshot the Bulldogs, 36-16, and won the ground ball margin, 26-15, while winning 13 draw controls to Bryant's seven.

The Bulldogs return to action Tuesday afternoon when they travel to Worcester, Mass. for a 4 p.m. matchup against Holy Cross.