Bulldogs’ shot to tie in final seconds gets saved in 11-10 loss to Brown Wednesday night

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team faced a 10-5 deficit midway through the second half, but strung together five of the last six scores in the game to give it an opportunity in the final 30 seconds, but could not net the equalizer in Wednesday night's 11-10 home loss to Brown.

Senior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) paced the Bulldogs (2-3) with six points on four goals and two assists. Fellow senior Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) registered a hat trick in a 12-minute span, and Meaghan Brennan (Glen Head, N.Y.) tallied two helpers and a goal. Sophomore goalie Daja Andrews (Lumberton, N.J.) made her second start of the year and turned away seven shots in a full 60 minutes of action.

Only five Bears' (3-2) tallied points, but all five scored at least twice. Lauren Toy charged Brown with a hat trick and two assists, while Hafsa Moinuddin netted two and dished out two assists. Zoe Verni, Rose Mangiarotti and Jillian Lee all caged a pair of shots. Netminder Victoria Holland made five saves in the win.

The Bulldogs trailed, 6-3, at halftime and went down by as many as six thank two a flurry of Bear goals to open the second frame. Toy and Moinuddin scored unassisted goals in the first 37 seconds of the stanza, and Mangiarotti made it 9-3 at the 27:37 mark with a strike into the left of the net from directly in front of the crease.

Following two Brown yellow cards, Brennan and Descalzo were able to drive in separate man-up goals over the ensuing 1:29 to make 9-6. Both teams struggled to find opportunities over the next eight minutes, but Jillian Lee scampered through the defense and fired home a shot past Andrews's stick with 17:16 to go, ending the Bears' 10-minute scoring drought.

Descalzo was able to bury her second goal after a nice pass from Brennan at the top of the attacking third to make it 10-6 with under 15 minutes left. Descalzo achieved the hat trick just 29 seconds later after a couple of fancy jukes en route to the cage. Nicole Britton netted her second goal of the night wrapping around the crease with 11:55 to play following a quick dump-off pass from junior Ali Cardinal (Schenectady, N.Y.), cutting the Bryant deficit to 10-8.

Moinuddin set up Mangiarotti once again just two minutes later to make it 11-8. But Nicole Britton would bring the hosts closer with her third and fourth goals coming over the next four minutes to make it 11-10.

The Bulldogs defended vigorously over the final 5:23 and were able to cause a Holland turnover with 40 ticks on the clock, setting themselves up for a chance to tie. Brown was whistled for a yellow card with 31 seconds remaining, and the Black and Gold were able to work a free-position attempt with just eight seconds to go. Freshman Jasmine Perkins (West Babylon, N.Y.) fired a low shot on the attempt, but it was saved by Holland, who corralled the ground ball just outside her crease, securing the win.

The win gives Brown a seventh-straight Ocean State Cup victory over Bryant. The Bulldogs are now 0-3 at home, but will head to South Carolina for a matchup with Winthrop on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.