Bulldogs drop Sunday’s home tilt to No. 11/8 Seawolves, 18-4

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team was handed its second home loss of the year on Sunday afternoon when it fell to No. 11/8 Stony Brook, 18-4, at the Bryant Track and Turf Complex.

Sophomore attack Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) and senior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) had strong performances in what was a difficult day for the Bulldogs (2-2) offensively. Brown netted two goals on her only two shot attempts, as Britton led the team with three points all coming off assists. Senior attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) each tallied a score in the defeat.

The Seawolves (1-0) kicked off their season impressively with 10 different point getters, six of which posted multiple points. Tewaaraton Award Watch List selection Kylie Ohlmiller paced the visitors with seven points on five goals and two assists. Courtney Murphy caged four and handed out a helper, while Dorrien Van Dyke and Kristin Yevoli tallied two and three unassisted goals, respectively.

Sophomore goalie Daja Andrews (Lumberton, N.J.) received her first loss of the year, allowing 10 goals with two saves before exiting the contest with three minutes to play in the first half. Fellow second-year keeper Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) turned away three shots in the second frame while allowing eight scores.

Stony Brook was relentless defensively, swarming to the ball on each Bryant possession, resulting in 16 shots (13 on target) for the hosts compared the Seawolves' 33 shots and 23 on goal. Despite seeing only 13 attempts, Anna Tesoriero saved nine shots in the win.

The Seawolves jumped out to a 3-0 lead less than five minutes into the opening half on goals from Ohlmiller and Murphy, with the second of the three scores coming on an own goal that unceremoniously and unluckily fell out of Andrews's stick and into her own cage during a clear attempt.

Britton set up DeMeo for the first Bryant goal at the 21:34 mark on a nice lob pass just a few feet outside of the crease. Two more goals made it 5-1 in favor of the visitors, but Ohlmiller was booked for a yellow card with 16:34 to play in the stanza to give Bryant a man-up opportunity in their attacking third.

The Bulldogs' possession lasted nearly four full minutes, but it ended with just one shot attempt that was saved, setting up another Ohlmiller goal on the other end to make it 6-1 at the 12:05 mark.

Stony Brook would string together a total of five straight scores before the Bulldogs tallied their second of the day on Brown's first goal with 6:41 to go. The San Diego, Calif., native put one more between the pipes with just four seconds on the clock to make it 10-3 at the half.

Yevoli came alive in the second frame with a free position goal less than six minutes in. She scored once more on a strong move to the cage, weaving through multiple defenders just 1:26 later. Her three second-half scores fueled an 8-0 Seawolves run across the first 26:18 of the stanza, as Descalzo fired home her first and only goal with 1:22 to play to end the stretch and create the 18-4 margin when the final horn sounded.

Sophomore defender Emma Bargiacchi (Chester, N.J.) led all performers with three ground balls. Britton registered three of the Black and Gold's 10 draw control victories, also adding two ground balls, and junior defender Carly Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) statted two draws and a pair of ground balls.

Yevoli snared six of the Seawolves' 13 draw controls, while Van Dyke, Samantha DiSalvo and Keri McCarthy tallied two draws and one ground ball apiece.

The Bulldogs had one more free position attempt (5-4) but could not capitalize on their five, as Stony Brook converted 50 percent of its attempts. Bryant was just 14-of-21 on the clear compared to a 20-for-24 effort from the Seawolves.  

The Bulldogs will remain at home, returning to the Bryant Track and Turf Complex on Wednesday, March 9th, when they host Brown University at 7:00 p.m. The contest can be seen on NECFrontRow.com and followed along via livestats at bryantbulldogs.com.