Great Danes bite Bulldogs, 20-13, in home opener Friday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior midfielder Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) scored four goals and added an assist in the Bryant University women's lacrosse team's home opener Friday afternoon, but it was not enough to overcome a Rachel Bowles-led University at Albany side, as the Great Danes won the matchup, 20-13.

Bowles scored nine points including a quintet of goals for the Great Danes (1-0) in a game that stood as Albany's season opener, and eight different scorers got on the board for the visitors. The Bulldogs (2-1) saw seven different players net tallies, including two apiece from sophomore Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and seniors Kimberley Sniffen (Redding, Conn.) and Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.). Sophomore Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) added three points with a goal and two helpers in the team's first loss of the season. Senior Olivia McCarthy (Sea Girt, N.J.) and junior Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) also netted goals in the outing.

Albany started out fast, scoring four of the first five goals to take a 4-1 lead in the opening six minutes. Bryant would rebound with two of their own – netted by Vendel and Bloom – to close the gap to 4-3. Nichole Eamer renewed the Great Danes' two-goal lead with 16 minutes left in the first half, and while Sniffen would close the deficit to one once more at the 14:10 mark, it would mark the final Bryant tally of the half.

Albany, however, was not done scoring in the frame, recording seven unanswered markers in the final 13 minutes to take a 12-4 lead into the halftime break. That run would stretch to eight-straight tallies less than 90 seconds into the second period with an Allie Phelan goal before Britton got the Bulldogs back on the board with 25:29 left in the contest, 13-5.

Bryant would score three of the next four goals to cut the Great Danes' lead to 15-8 and answered two more Albany tallies for a 17-10 margin entering the final 10 minutes.

Descalzo took a pass from Vendel at the 6:46 mark and hammered it home to bring the hosts within six, 17-11, but Albany quickly closed the door on any Bryant momentum, scoring three straight for a 20-11 advantage with less than a minute left on the clock. Vendel and Bloom would each record quick unassisted tallies to round out the scoring, but the Black and Gold would ultimately fall to the Great Danes, 20-13.

On the day, Albany outshot the Bulldogs, 34-22, and doubled up the hosts on ground balls, 14-7. The Great Danes just edged out Bryant on the draw, 18-17, but it was Vendel and Britton that led the way individually with six wins apiece. Albany goalie Anna Berman made five stops in the contest, with Bryant counterpart Brianna Watt (Babylon, N.Y.) turning away eight.

The Bulldogs return to action next Saturday, March 1 when they travel to New York to take on Manhattan College at 5 p.m.