Descalzo, Bulldog offense dominate in 17-2 victory over Manhattan Saturday at home

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team allowed Manhattan College just a single goal in each half, while junior attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) netted a career-high seven goals to lead the Bulldogs to a 17-2 victory Saturday at the Bryant Turf Complex.

The Bulldogs (2-1) scored 11 uninterrupted goals spanning the two halves to bust open an early 1-1 tie and never looked back, boasting seven different scorers in the victory. Descalzo added an assist to her seven scores for a career-high eight points on the outing, while senior midfielder Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) added her third-career hat trick. Sophomore attack Emily Columbus (East Northport, N.Y.) and rookie linemate Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) each chipped in a pair of tallies – Columbus would add a pair of assists as well – while junior Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.), senior Skylar Zlotnick (Essex Fells, N.J.) and freshman Christine Kelly (Farmingdale, N.Y.) all added a score of their own for the season-high scoring output.

Rookie netminder Daja Andrews (Lumberton, N.J.) was more than stellar between the pipes in her first-career start, turning away 11 shots to hold the Jaspers (1-3) to just a pair of goals.

The teams played an even opening 10 minutes before Burns finally broke the deadlock with a free position goal at the 19:58 mark. But Manhattan's Megan Yarusso returned the favor less than a minute later to knot the score at 1-1.

Descalzo got on the board for the first time on the day midway through the opening frame with her own 8-meter score, and the junior would net three of the next five goals to open up a 7-1 lead with less than six minutes before the intermission. Zlotnick, assisted by Columbus, and Britton would also find the back of the net.

Brown found space between the pipes with 2:45 to play with a free position goal, and Burns would return to the scoreboard less than 20 seconds later to complete a dominant first-half effort and send the Bulldogs into the break leading, 9-1.

Bryant would score three more to open the second stanza – back-to-back tallies from Descalzo and the first from Columbus – for a 12-1 lead less than eight minutes in before the Jaspers finally broke through, snapping the Black and Gold's streak with a score from Donna Jo DiNorcia with 21 minutes remaining.

With less than 17 to go, sophomore defender Molly Martin (Island Park, N.Y.) forced a turnover from Casey Silvestri, picked up the loose ball and sprung Descalzo for the junior's seventh and final goal, picking up her first-career point in the process for a 13-2 advantage.

The score would give way to a new Manhattan netminder in Liz Pierson, but Burns, Columbus, Brown and Kelly would all follow with unassisted tallies to close out the final 13 minutes, as the Bulldogs finished the contest with five unanswered goals for the 17-2 final.

The Bulldogs outshot the Jaspers, 32-24, on the day and doubled up their opponents on ground balls, 16-8. Bryant edged Manhattan off the draw, 12-9, led by three from Britton. Manhattan went just 1-for-8 in free position shots and was only 5-of-11 on the clear.

The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday afternoon, hosting Yale at the Bryant Turf Complex at 3:00 p.m.