Bulldogs, Bobcats clash Thursday on road

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After more than a week off, the Bryant University women's lacrosse team returns to the road in search of its first winning streak of the season and will take on Quinnipiac University Thursday at 3:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs (5-2) also see a close to their month-long road trip Thursday afternoon, as the Black and Gold haven't played a game at home since Feb. 21. The Bobcats (0-5) enter the game still in search of their first victory of 2014, having faced off against stiff competition through the campaign's opening weeks.

Kyra Ochwat leads Quinnipiac with 12 goals and 16 points and is the only Bobcat in double figures entering the contest, while Michaela Tinsley adds seven goals and eight points. Alexandra Hlesciak is the team's leader on the draw (12) and is third on the team in goals scored, with four (5 points). Phoebe LaPlante adds 10 draw controls with a team-best 10 ground balls, while Kelsey Maroney and Emily Samuelman each have seven caused turnovers to open 2014.

Goalie Samantha Tilts (7gb, 1ct) has made 55 stops through five outings, posting a .407 save percentage and 16.00 goals against average in 186 shots faced.

The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game ranked in the top three in the Northeast Conference in draw controls, scoring defense, scoring offense and scoring margin on the season and won back-to-back contests on the road against Lehigh (13-12 OT) and Lafayette (18-12) last week.

Reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Week Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) and the program's new Division I points leader Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.) are tied for the team lead with 21 points apiece, with the former contributing a team-leading 17 goals with a pair of game winners. Sophomore Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) also has 17 markers on the year, while senior midfielder Kimberley Sniffen (Redding, Conn.) has posted 12 goals with a trio of assists and has scored three game-winning goals for the Black and Gold so far this season. Bloom paces the team with 11 helpers and currently ranks inside the program's all-time top-10 in assists (fourth), points (seventh) and goals (ninth).

Defensively, Sniffen's eight caused turnovers leads the way for the Bulldogs, while Vendel and senior goalie Brianna Watt (Babylon, N.Y.) each have 13 ground balls to pace the side. Sophomore Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) is the team's top winner off the draw with 23, while Vendel adds 18 and Sniffen has 12 wins. Watt, the NEC Defensive Player of the Week, is 5-2 between the pipes with a 10.52 goals against average and .398 save percentage.

Thursday is far from the first meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bobcats, and Quinnipiac leads the all-time series, 3-2. Three of those five matchups have taken place in Hamden, Conn., but Bryant is the winner of two of the last three, winning, 11-9, at home in 2011 and 8-6 on the road in 2012 before falling by a single goal, 16-15, last season.