Bryant remains undefeated in NEC play with 17-10 win over Saint Francis U. Sunday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) scored six goals and the Bryant University women's lacrosse team never trailed Sunday in a 17-10 road victory over Saint Francis U. that extended the Bulldogs' winning streak to five.

Bryant (11-3, 5-0 Northeast Conference) remains undefeated in league play with the victory while the Red Flash (3-11, 0-5) are still looking for their first conference win. Ten different Bulldogs found the back of the net in the contest, including single goals from a quartet of freshmen.

The Bulldogs would jump out to an early 3-0 lead with unassisted goals from senior Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), junior Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) and sophomore Emily Columbus (East Northport, N.Y.) within the first five minutes.

Lindsay Ingram would interrupt what would have been seven straight Bulldog tallies with a free position goal with 24:36 remaining in the opening half, though the visitors would get that 7-1 edge less than 10 minutes into the tilt with ensuing scores from rookie Kristie VosWinkel (Newtown, Conn.), senior Skylar Zlotnick (Essex Fells, N.J.) and consecutive Descalzo goals.

Descalzo would go on to score a natural hat trick over the final 5:22 of the frame to send the Black and Gold into the halftime break with an 11-4 lead.

Holly Lawrence got the Red Flash back on the board to open the second, but Descalzo would renew the seven-goal cushion with her final tally of the day three minutes later.

Blair Rosenberg and Christina Fini cut that lead to 12-7 with back-to-back scores with just under 19 minutes to go in regulation, but frosh Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) quickly found the back of the net, followed by a second score from Britton for a 14-7 Bulldog advantage.

Both sides would score three more times in the final eight minutes of action, with Bryant's goals coming from sophomore Olivia Brooks (Auburn, N.Y.) and rookies Christine Kelly (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and Kayleigh Phillips (Westminster, Md.), en route to the 17-10 final.

All-in-all, 13 different Bulldogs would record at least one point in the game, while Burns led the way on draw controls with four. Defenders Carly Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.), Aileen Pearman (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Dori Hellar (Duxbury, Mass.) each picked up three ground balls, while Burns and rookie netminder Daja Andrews (Lumberton, N.J.) paced the Black and Gold with two caused turnovers apiece.

Andrews finished the day with three saves, playing the second half between the pipes, while classmate Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) picked up the win with four stops in the opening 30 minutes.

Heather McKee (3 saves) took the loss for Saint Francis U. and gave way to Elizabeth Henry (3 saves) after the halftime break.

On the afternoon, Bryant outshot the Red Flash, 27-20, and won the ground ball margin, 26-17.

The Bulldogs return to action Friday, April 24, when they will face their toughest league opponent yet in a Wagner team that is also undefeated in NEC action. Friday's game kicks off from the Bryant Turf Complex at 4:00 p.m.