Bulldogs head into postseason with same goal, new mentality

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – It is not an unfamiliar spot for the Bryant University women's lacrosse team: five straight shares or outright regular-season championships have placed them as the hosts of the Northeast Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship each year since 2014. This year is no different, as the Bulldogs are set to play host starting Thursday.

They enter the semifinals with a blemish on their resume, however, a loss to Mount St. Mary's in the final regular season game. The Black and Gold do not plan on letting that phase them heading into the weekend.

"I don't think we came out and showed our full potential," senior Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) said. The Long Island native's day consisted of five saves, her lowest 60-minute effort of the season, and she is not the only one who has plans for redemption.

"Mount played a really good game, but they did not see what we are capable of and we plan on showing that Thursday," junior midfielder Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) added.

It was a year that started with ups and downs for head coach Jill Batcheller's club. They started the season with a pair of big wins against America East foes and then dropped three straight to a pair of nearby Ivy League teams and defending MAAC champion Canisius.

Bryant's offense then kicked it into high gear, averaging 16.4 goals per game over their next 10, winning nine of them. This included 20-goal efforts against Siena (20-5), Central Connecticut (22-3) and Saint Francis U (21-6).

"We all do a great job of playing to each other's strengths," sophomore Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) said. "We put ourselves into positions that allow either us or our teammates to be successful and that helps the offense as a whole play really well."

Bryant's defense was a force to be reckoned with as well as the Black and Gold got hot, keeping teams to six goals or less in half of those games. Bulldog opponents reach double figures in the goal column once, a dramatic 11-10 come-from-behind victory over Wagner that helped them clinch their current position as hosts of the NEC tournament.

"Our experience and communication as a unit have really helped our successes," Santeramo said. "We've held a lot of teams to single digits and that stems from our leadership."

The three seniors in the defensive unit, Madison McNally (East Northport, N.Y.), Amanda Moss (Lebanon, N.J.) and Laura Fullam (Massapequa, N.Y.), have led Bryant to force 36 more turnovers than the Bulldogs have committed and causing 154 turnovers over 16 games, 34 more than their opponents. All of the stats are out the window come Thursday, however.

"We did not end the regular season how we would've liked to, but it is the postseason now, which means it is a clean slate and we are very excited to have the home-field advantage," Britton said.

The Bulldogs played five games at the Bryant Track and Turf Complex this season, winning four of them. That includes a perfect conference record at 3-0 in Smithfield, outscoring opponents by a margin of 54-21. After six goals on Sunday, the goal for the Bulldogs is to make sure they play Bulldogs lacrosse on the offensive end at home on Thursday.

"This week we are focusing on playing the offense we've played all year," Breglia said. "We know that was not our best. We have to focus on what has been working and try to make sure our attack plays through those elements and not the ones that were not so good on Sunday."

As the Bulldogs have learned from prior experiences, anything can happen in the postseason, so the mentality is Thursday first, then everything else.

"Nothing is guaranteed except for Thursday," Santeramo said. "Our mentality going forward has to be focused on playing Bryant lacrosse and really tackling each game knowing that we didn't leave anything on the field."

Britton expects nothing less.

"It's going to be a battle every second you are on that field," she added.

The battles begin Thursday, with the top-seeded Bulldogs taking on Mount St. Mary's at 1:00 and then Wagner and Robert Morris facing off at 4 p.m.