Yale overcomes Bulldogs late for 11-10 win

BULLDOGS FALL TO YALE, 11-10, DESPITE SECOND-HALF LEAD WEDNESDAY ON ROAD

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bulldogs led, 7-4, seven minutes into the second half and sophomore Katherine Keckeisen (Danbury, Conn.) tied the game at 10-10 after a late Yale surge, but the Bryant University women's lacrosse team's bid for its first victory of the year was spoiled in the final five minutes as the host Elis took an 11-10 home win Wednesday afternoon at Reese Stadium.

The Bulldogs led from the opening whistle until 11 minutes into the second frame, when Yale's Ashley McCormick scored an unassisted tally to knot the game at 7-7 with 19 left to play. The tally capped off a three-goal spurt for the Elis (2-1), and while Bryant (0-4) senior Lauren Sheridan (Bethpage, N.Y.) renewed the visitors' lead with an unaided score soon after, the advantage was only temporarily, as the hosts followed the interruption with three more goals to take their first edge of the contest.

Caroline Crow recorded a second-frame hat trick for Yale, her third tally marking the home side's go-ahead goal with 15 minutes still to play in the contest, 9-8. Kerri Fleishhacker would tack on the second of her two goals for the 10-8 lead with 10:49 showing on the clock.

Despite having the upper hand the majority of the game, the Bulldogs continued to fight through the momentum swing, and sophomore Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) came through with 10 to play, scoring an unassisted goal to cut Yale's lead to just one, 10-9. Keckeisen followed just over four minutes later, taking the clock down to six before scoring the tying tally off a pass from senior captain Mary Green (Merrick, N.Y.).

But with 4:30 remaining, Christina Doherty scored the biggest goal of her young career, taking a feed from Crow and nailing the game winner past Bulldog goalie Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, N.Y.), who couldn't hold out despite an impressive 12-save performance.

But Filippone's play afforded the visiting Black and Gold the opportunity to get out in front early and stay there throughout much of Wednesday's contest, turning away seven for a 4-3 advantage at the halftime break.

The Bulldog offense started the game out strong with three goals in the opening 10 minutes – scores that came from Green, Sheridan and reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.) – before Yale answered with a Cathryn Avallone score at the 19:52 mark.

Sabine van der Linden netted another for the home team nine seconds later in unassisted fashion, but from there the scoring on both sides would stop until the 5:50 mark, when Bloom recorded the second of three scores for a 4-2 Bulldog edge.

Yale's Meghan Murray would get the last shot before the intermission, though, cutting her side's deficit to just one with 80 seconds remaining on the first-half clock.

Bryant would come out firing in the second, though, netting the first two tallies of the stanza in the opening five minutes off the sticks of Bloom and Olivia McCarthy (Sea Girt, N.J.) for a 6-3 lead. Crow's first score of the frame cut the visitors' advantage back to two with 23:55 to play, but Kimberley Sniffen (Redding, Conn.) upped the Bulldog ante again less than a minute later for a 7-4 Bryant margin.

In total, Yale would score seven times in the contest's final 21 minutes for the 11-10 comeback victory, outscoring Bryant, 8-6, in the second half to edge out the Black and Gold. Erin McMullan and Whitney Quackenbush combined for seven saves for the Elis as McMullan walked away with her first win of the season.

Yale outpowered the Bulldogs with 34 shots to Bryant's 21 and won 15 draw controls to the visitors' eight. Avallone and Dougherty each picked up four of those wins, while the Bulldogs were paced by two apiece from Keckeisen and Sheridan. Junior Nicole Rettinger (Dix Hills, N.Y.)'s five ground balls tied a game best while the defender's five caused turnovers marked a contest and season high.

Bryant has a week of rest before returning to the field for a Spring Break contest against Presbyterian on neutral ground in Atlanta, Ga., Wednesday, March 14 (2 p.m.). The Bulldogs will then travel to Loudonville, N.Y., for a matchup against Siena before returning to Smithfield to host intrastate rival Brown on March 20 at the Bryant Turf Complex.