Britton's goal completes comeback, clinches home-field for Bryant in NEC postseason

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Junior Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) drove middle and fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the cage, giving Bryant an 11-10 lead they would not relinquish on Friday afternoon, clinching Bryant as the host of the Northeast Conference women's lacrosse tournament.

GAME INFORMATION

Bryant 11, Wagner 10

Records: Bryant 11-4 (6-0 NEC), Wagner 10-5 (5-1 NEC)

Location: Hameline Field – Staten Island, N.Y.

COACH BATCHELLER'S COMMENTS
"We are so proud to bring the NEC Championships back to Bryant this year. Both teams played with such passion and intensity. There were a lot of ups and downs for us, but again this team was able to pull out the win when it counted most. Our upperclassmen are a really special group. In our last few timeouts, I knew looking in their eyes that we were going to come out with the win. I'm really proud of them grinding it out and relying on their strengths collectively to make the game-winning plays at the end. As a team, we plan on staying focused in the present with our game against Mount on Sunday."

KEY MOMENT

After Ally Alliegro gave Wagner the lead on a free-position shot, senior Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) scored right off the draw to tie things with 1:17 left and Britton won it 29 seconds later. The junior then sealed the win by winning her own draw, helping Bryant milk the rest of the clock.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The offenses started fast, with redshirt-sophomore Melissa Wamp (Florham Park, N.J.) scoring two of Bryant's three goals in the first 3:11. Brown and Ally Alliegro scored the game's other two goals as Bryant jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
• Heidi Colford and junior Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) scored the game's next two goals, putting Bryant up 4-2 at the 22:25 mark.
• Alliegro, Colford and Lauren Ednie recorded the next three goals, putting Wagner up 5-4 with 3:52 left.
• After DeMeo scored her second of the game, Alliegro recorded back to back to put the Seahawks up 7-5 at halftime.
• DeMeo and freshman Natalie Langella scored the first two goals of the half, tying the game with 16:15 left.
• Anna Belle Reily gave Wagner the lead at the 15:47 mark, but Langella and sophomore Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) gave Bryant the lead with 14:41 left.
• Alliegro put Wagner up 10-9 with 1:34 left and then Brown and Britton's heroics helped the Bulldogs escape with the victory.

STATS

• Wagner outshot the Bulldogs 32-27 on the afternoon.
• Bryant was very efficient in the clear, completing 22 of 24 attempts. The Seahawks completed 21 of 25 attempts.
• The Bulldogs were able to control the draw circle, winning 14 of the available 22 draws.
• DeMeo and Breglia finished the afternoon with three points each.
• Britton, Langella, Wamp and Brown all finished with two points.
• Junior Meredith James (Essex Fells, N.J.) helped Bryant at the circle, winning five draws.
• Senior Laura Fullam (Massapequa, N.Y.) led Bryant with three caused turnovers and classmate Amanda Moss (Lebanon, N.J.) added two.  

NOTES

• Bryant is hosting the NEC tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
• The Bulldogs won their first game when being outshot during the contest.
• Fullam's three caused turnovers match her career-high, which was last met at Niagara on March 17.
• Langella is into double figures with 10 points on the season, matching her career-high in goals that she first set at Hartford on March 3.
• Santeramo matched her season-high with 15 saves on the year. She made 15 stops against Brown on March 7.
• Breglia climbed into fourth all-time with 64 points in a single season. DeMeo is sixth with 62 on the 2018 campaign.
• Brown became the 7^th player in Bryant's Division I history, and 13^th overall, to reach the 100 goal plateau.

UP NEXT

The Bulldogs have a chance to clinch the Northeast Conference regular-season title outright on Sunday afternoon when they battle Mount St. Mary's at 1 p.m. in Emmitsburg, Md.

For an inside look at the entire program, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.