Bulldogs edge Bears, 9-8, to win first-ever Ocean State Cup

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) and senior Shannon Sullivan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) combined for seven of the team's nine goals and the Bulldogs doubled up the Bears in the second half as the Bryant University women's lacrosse team earned its first-ever Ocean State Cup Championship with a marquee 9-8 road win over Brown Wednesday night.

The victory marks the first time the Bulldogs (3-1) have beaten Brown (2-3) in eight all-time meetings, and the Black and Gold would complete an impressive second-half comeback to secure the 9-8 victory. Sullivan and DeMeo combined for five of Bryant's six second-half goals, as the Bulldogs outscored their hosts, 6-3, after the intermission.

Brown opened up a 6-3 advantage 28 seconds into the second stanza to cap off a four-goal run stretching both halves. DeMeo got on the board with her second score of the day with 21:50 still to play to draw the margin back to two, but Bri Irons responded for the home side less than three minutes later.

Brown would get on the board just once in the game's final 19 minutes, though, as sophomore Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) followed up on Irons's tally with one of her own less than 60 seconds later, assisted by rookie Maggie Pressler (Smithfield, R.I.). DeMeo took over from there, finding room between the pipes for back-to-back goals less than three minutes apart to tie the game at 7-7 with 12:33 remaining.

Zoe Verni would hand the Bears back an 8-7 edge with 11:26 left on the clock, but it was the final Bruno lead of the night, as Sullivan would tie the game 90 seconds later before completing just the third hat trick of her career with 2:45 to play for what would stand as the game winner.

Rookie Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) also tacked on a first-half goal for the Black and Gold, whose only other lead of the day came at 3-2 for 47 seconds of the opening frame. Brown got two goals apiece from Hafsa Moinuddin and Irons, with the former adding an assist to lead the hosts with three points.

Junior goalie Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) stood tall in the crease for the visitors, making eight stops with two ground balls and a caused turnover. Mikaela Karlsson made nine saves in the loss.

Bryant outshot Brown, 32-25, on the night and dominated the ground ball game, 22-12. The Bears held a slight edge on draws, 10-9, but went just 22-of-29 on clears to the Bulldogs' 18-of-19 mark. The home side also struggled on free position attempts, scoring on just one of seven shots. Bryant would go 2-for-3. Senior Carly Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) paced the contest with four draw control wins, while five different Bulldogs picked up three ground balls each.

The Bulldogs return to action Sunday afternoon, when they travel to Annapolis, Md., for a 1 p.m. meeting with Navy.