Bulldogs Pound LIU to Begin Crucial NEC Weekend

Bryant Explodes for 16 Goals in Rout of LIU

SMITFHIELD, R.I. – Putting together one of its most balanced offensive performances this season, the Bryant University women's lacrosse team snapped a two-game losing streak and picked up a solid Northeast Conference victory on Friday afternoon, cruising past LIU Brooklyn, 16-3, at LIU Field.

The Bulldogs (7-6, 4-2 NEC) saw four players score multiple times led by a hat trick from junior Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.). Bryant's all-time Division I assists leader, Bloom also dished out two helpers to finish with five points on the day.

Rookie attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) continued to sizzle on the offensive end, recording a hat trick of her own, while Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) brought her conference-leading goal total to 33 with a pair of tallies. Junior midfielder Kate Keckeison (Danbury, Conn.) also scored twice for the Black and Gold. Overall, the Bulldogs had ten different goal scorers on the afternoon.

Junior net-minder Brianna Watt (Babylon, N.Y.) and the Bryant defense allowed a season-low and Division I record three goals as Watt only had to make four stops.

Bryant's NEC-leading offense got to work quickly in Brooklyn firing home five goals in the first ten minutes of the first half. Bloom got the Bulldogs on the board just 35 seconds into the contest finishing a chance from classmate Olivia McCarthy (Sea Girt, N.J.). Vendel gave the Bulldogs a 6-0 edge with an unassisted goal at the 19:25 mark of the first half before adding her second later in the stanza.

The Bulldogs would jump out to a 10-0 lead before LIU (0-14, 0-7 NEC) cracked the scoreboard and took a 10-2 lead into halftime. Bryant's 10 first-half goals matched a season-high for goals in a half, done three other times this year.

Out of the locker room, Bryant played another solid half of lacrosse, smothering the LIU offense and holding the Blackbirds to just a single goal while scoring six of its own. Kelsea Gettings (Wallingford, Conn.) and Samantha Buczek (Wyckoff, N.J.) each scored their first goals of the season in the second half to polish off the win.

With the victory, the Bulldogs surpassed last season's win total of six and are just one win shy of tying the all-time Division I record for wins in a season (eight in 2011).

Weekend action concludes for first-year head coach Jill DePetris and company on Sunday afternoon as they take on Wagner at 1 p.m. You can all of that action live and for free on NEC Front Row.