Strong defense pushes Bulldogs into sixth consecutive NEC Final

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team is back in the Northeast Conference championship for the sixth consecutive year after a 9-8 win over fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's on Friday afternoon in the first of two conference semifinals at the Bryant Track and Turf.

GAME INFORMATION

No. 1 Bryant 9, No. 4 Mount St. Mary's 8

Records: Bryant 12-5 Mount St. Mary's 10-7

Location: Bryant Track and Turf Complex

COACH BATCHELLER'S COMMENTS
"Our offense showed incredible perseverance today. They kept attacking and creating shots, which allowed us to chip away and score enough to move on. In conference semifinals it is all about fighting through adversity and I think we did a great job of that today … defensively it was all about getting back to basics and I thought after Mount scored a couple goals we really got back to what we do well and that helped us get a good lead."

KEY MOMENT

After Mount St. Mary's' Taylor Carhart scored a man-down to put the Mountaineers up 5-3, the Bulldogs snagged three goals to end the half from senior Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.), sophomore Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) and junior Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) to take a lead into the half that they would not relinquish.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mount started fast, with Carly Miller and Alayna Pagnotta giving the Mountaineers and early 2-0.
• Back and forth the teams went for the next 10 minutes, with every Bulldog goal being answered by a Mount tally. Juniors Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) and DeMeo, along with redshirt-sophomore Melissa Wamp (Florham Park, N.J.) all scoring for the Bulldogs during the stretch.
• The three-goal run at the end of the first half was mirrored in the second half, with Breglia scoring twice and Wamp adding one to finish Bryant's scoring with 11:36 left and the Black and Gold up 9-5.
• Pagnotta scored on the advantage, while Marley Heller and Kate Kinsella brought the Mount within one, but Britton won the final draw and the Bulldogs were able to milk the final 1:30 of the clock.

STATS

• The Bulldogs outshot Mount St. Mary's 34-29 on the afternoon.
• After losing the battle 7-5 in the first half, Bryant won five of the seven draws in the second half to claim a 10-9 overall advantage.
• Both teams were very efficient on the clear, with Mount finishing 25-of-27, while Bryant was 22-for-23.
• The Black and Gold won the battle on the ground, beating the Mountaineers 21-13 in ground balls.
• Juniors Meredith James (Essex Fells, N.J.) and Britton combined for 10 draw controls, with James grabbing six and Britton claiming four.
• Seniors Madison McNally (East Northport, N.Y.) and Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) joined Britton in scooping up four ground balls.
• McNally, Santeramo, Britton and sophomore Katherine Clark (New Fairfield, Conn.) caused two turnovers apiece.
• Santeramo finished the afternoon with 12 saves, with seven in the first 30 minutes.  

NOTES

• The Bulldogs are off to their sixth consecutive NEC Women's Lacrosse Championship Game. They are 3-2 in their history in the final.
• Bryant has won each of their last six semifinal games by a margin of 84-50.
• The Black and Gold won their first game in three tries when scoring less than 10 goals in a game.
• With her three points on the afternoon, Breglia moves within three points of the single-season Division I record for points in a season (71).
• Two caused turnovers for each McNally and Santeramo tied their respective career-highs in the category.

UP NEXT

Bryant will look to claim its second-consecutive Northeast Conference Tournament trophy and its fourth in the last five years on Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. the winner of the Wagner and Robert Morris semifinal.

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