#1 Bulldogs advance to Sunday’s NEC Championship with 13-12 win in overtime thriller over #4 Pioneers

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – It looked like smooth sailing in the first half of Friday's Northeast Conference Semifinal when the Bryant University women's lacrosse team took a 9-3 lead, but the weather worsened and Sacred Heart stormed back to take a late second-half lead, only to be equalized with 19 ticks to send it into overtime where the hosts prevailed, 13-12.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (13-4) were fueled by six points on five goals and an assist from sophomore attack Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.). Senior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) netted two goals and had a helper and junior mid Shannon Sullivan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) caged a pair of goals.

Alyssa Pearce paced the Pioneers (8-8) with five goals of her own, and Averi Farhat netted two goals and tallied two assists. Both Kylie Calandra and Jesslyn Joseph registered a goal and an assist. Paige Hammick was stout in the crease, turning away 15 of the 36 shots she faced, despite it being in a losing effort.

It didn't take very long for the Bulldogs to jump out to a lead, as senior attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) netted a goal followed by a Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) finish just 12 second later to make it 2-0 at the 26:33 mark.

The Pioneers would answer and keep pace over the next seven minutes, as Pearce initiated the scoring for her team just two minutes later. It would be the start of the next six goals that altered from team to team, making it 5-3 Bryant with 16:31 to go in the first half.

That fifth goal that was scored by Sullivan ignited a 5-0 run for the hosts over a seven-minute stretch to make it 9-3. The run was capped off by a Brown rip that was set up by her own draw control win, as she steamrolled down the field and took it herself for the score.

Though the game looked like it would end in the same fashion that the May 1st matchup between the two squads did, a 16-5 win for Bryant, the visitors would not allow themselves to suffer the same fate.

Calandra caged her first, set up Pearce for her second, and then Joseph caged her first of the contest over the final 6:37 of the stanza to make it a competitive 9-6 at the half.

Nicole Britton scored instantly to start the second half to make it 10-6 just 27 seconds in, but the Pioneers carried their momentum from the end of the first. Pearce would tally three of the five-straight Pioneer goals to give them their first lead of the game, 11-10, with 12:12 remaining.

As the comeback mounted, the rain started to downpour and make conditions very difficult for the Black and Gold. The offense was pressing and could not find their footing or quality looks at the net through the heavy rain drops, but Brown would not allow her team to fail on its shot at defending its NEC crown.

The San Diego, Calif., product tied things up at 11-11 with 8:12 to play on a free-position shot that bounced up and barely snuck underneath the cross bar. Liana Doyle responded to give the Pioneers back the lead with 4:26 to play, making the atmosphere in Smithfield very tense.

Descalzo thought she had the equalizer with a shot at the doorstep, but Hammick sent it away with 2:54 to go. After holding the ball for over a minute, Dori Hellar (Duxbury, Mass.) caused a crucial turnover, picked up the ground ball and cleared it herself with 1:36 to go.

With the ball and only 90 seconds to play, the NEC Rookie of the Year Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) earned a free-position attempt. DeMeo was held pointless all night, as the rain affected her ability to effectively handle the ball in her stick. Her shot sailed high, but Brown was able to secure the ball and she was awarded yet another free position.

Brown's rip was turned away by Hammick, but she could not secure the save and DeMeo tracked down a critical ground ball to give Bryant one final chance with 1:15 remaining.

After the ball moved in front of, behind and around the crease multiple times, Brown made a strong run from the left and fired a shot on the move with 19 seconds that was blasted into the lower left of the cage to knot things up and send the game into overtime.

After three minutes of very little offensive chances from either side, the Bulldogs won the opening draw of the second half of the OT. It took one full minute, but Nicole Britton found Meaghan Brennan (Glen Head, N.Y.) in front of the cage, and the sophomore midfielder barely let the ball get situated in her stick before she sent the high pass into the net and sent her team into Sunday's NEC Championship.

The Bulldogs will face second-seeded Wagner College in the finals at 1:00 p.m. It will mark the third-straight season that they have faced the Seahawks in the championship game, and the Black and Gold will look to make it three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances come Sunday afternoon.