Descalzo’s four-goal effort guides Bulldogs past Crusaders, 8-7, Tuesday in Worcester

WORCESTER, MASS. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team trailed, 5-2, with 12 minutes to play in the first half, but outscored Holy Cross, 6-2, over the final 42 minutes of play to win a tense road contest in Worcester, Mass., 8-7, Tuesday afternoon.

Senior attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) paced the Bulldogs (2-1) with four scores on 11 shots, including the eventual game-winner with 14:31 remaining in the second frame. Descalzo also led the Black and Gold with three ground balls, along with junior defender Molly Martin (Island Park, N.Y.) who notched the same total. Freshman Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) scored the first two goals of her collegiate career, and her sister and senior attacker Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) along with sophomore midfielder Meaghan Brennan (Glen Head, N.Y.) each chipped in a goal.

The Crusaders (0-4) produced six different goal scorers in the loss, led by Tess MacKay's two netters. MacKenzie Bozel and Kaitlin Concilio were the only other host players with multiple-point performances, as the former had a goal and an assist with the latter registering two helpers.   

Sophomore goalies Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) and Daja Andrews (Lumberton, N.J.) played the first and second stanzas, respectively, for Bryant, each turning away five shots. Julia Maloney denied 13 of Bryant's 21 shots on target in a complete game effort.   

The Crusaders tacked on two goals before the Bulldogs manufactured a single point, as Lauren Britton fired a shot into the lower corner of the cage after a nice feed from sophomore attack Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) 10 minutes in.

Descalzo ripped her first goal into the upper-right corner of the cage on a free-position attempt at the 15:14 mark of the half. Stephanie Ford and Alexis Leighton added to the Crusader lead over the next two minutes to give the hosts their largest edge of the afternoon, 5-2.

Lauren Britton tallied her second just over a minute later, as it was a score that sparked four unanswered for the Bulldogs. Following a caused turnover by Martin, Descalzo received a pass in transition and immediately attacked the cage and scored to make it 5-4 with just over 8:00 to play in the opening half.

After Brennan knotted things up just three minutes later with a low and away goal, Concilio appeared to regain the edge for the Crusaders, but her score was called back after she failed to drop her stick, and the score remained tied, 5-5, at the break.

Bryant took its first lead 40 seconds into the second stanza on a Nicole Britton free position score. Keely Connors tied the game on an unassisted bullet past Andrews with 28:05 on the clock. Andrews zoned it from there and would turn away five shots over the ensuing 25:25 without allowing a score.

Descalzo, the reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Year, took the game into her own hands across the next 14 minutes, first putting the Bulldogs up one with 21:38 to go. She then fired home her fourth goal of the afternoon just outside the crease on a man-up possession to make it 8-6 with 14:31 to play.

The Bulldogs applied stingy defense over the next 12 minutes, not allowing a goal until the 2:40 mark on a MacKay man-up score. The Crusaders pulled Maloney out of net to add more offense in the final minute, and they were able to cause a turnover with 30 seconds remaining to set up one last scoring opportunity. MacKay fired a shot wide with two seconds on the clock, and the horn sounded to hand Bryant its second road win of the season.

Additional Notes

Chasing History

Descalzo's game winning goal puts her in a tie for first on Bryant's all-time career game-winner list.

The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday at noon when they will be battle tested by No. 11 Stony Brook at the Track and Turf Complex. The game can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com and followed along with livestats on bryantbulldogs.com.