PLAYOFF BOUND: BULLDOGS ADVANCE TO FIRST-EVER NEC TOURNAMENT, CLINCH THREE SEED WITH 4-2 WIN OVER QUINNIPIAC ON SENIOR NIGHT

October 29, 2010

PLAYOFF BOUND: BULLDOGS ADVANCE TO FIRST-EVER NEC TOURNAMENT, CLINCH THREE SEED WITH 4-2 WIN OVER QUINNIPIAC ON SENIOR NIGHT

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Quinnipiac would take the lead twice, but three unanswered second-half scores – including consecutive goals less than a minute apart – put the Bulldogs back on top for good Friday night, as the Bryant University field hockey team clinched the school's first Division I postseason berth with a 4-2 win over the Bobcats on 2010 Senior Night.

Seniors (left to right) Brittany Glenn, Elise Boissoneau, Alex Guisti, Julie Kuchyt and Toby Maltz left the Bryant Turf Complex for the final time with a bang, taking a 4-2 win over Quinnipiac to clinch the program's first-ever Northeast Conference Tournament berth on 2010 Senior Night. The Bulldogs earn the No. 3 seed with the win and will take on No. 2 Monmouth on November 5 in New Jersey.

The Bulldogs (7-11) move to 4-2 in Northeast Conference action with the win, staking claim to the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament, to be held Nov. 5-6 at top-seeded Rider University. Bryant will face off against second-seeded Monmouth in the opening round.

With a 1-1 tie heading into the intermission, Quinnipiac (7-9, 3-3) wasted no time in breaking the deadlock, taking over the lead at the 39: 23 mark when Jess Rusin took a sharp crossing pass from Kaitlyn Notarianni  and stuck it in the upper right part of the cage for a 2-1 advantage. The goal gave the visitors their second lead of the night, after taking a 1-0 edge just 5:16 into the contest.

But the Bulldogs, desperate for the Senior Night win to solidify their playoff destiny, would not allow the goal to deflate them. Just over five minutes later, rookie Olivia Jankins (West Brookfield, Mass.) sent a clean pass through the middle, where junior Ali Czerniak (Holyoke, Mass.) made it count, collecting the feed and firing a shot into the lower left corner, past Bobcat goalie Nicole Lewis to bring the score back to even, 2-2.

But it would take the night's big star, junior Katherine Andrusin (North Andover, Mass.), just 56 seconds to turn a tie into a Bulldog win, netting the unassisted game winner at the 45:43 mark for her second tally of the night.

In the 62nd minute, the Bulldogs would add a bit of insurance, thanks to the play of senior Julie Kuchyt (Hatfield, Mass.) and rookie Mallory Hancock (Skowhegan, Maine). When a laser shot from Kuchyt forced Lewis to slide to cover the right post, giving up a big rebound despite making the save, Hancock capitalized, converting the rebound into her third score of the season to double the home team's lead with less than nine minutes to play. The goal gave Bryant a 4-2 advantage to which the Bobcats had no answer, and the score would eventually go final.

But the night didn't start out quite as solid, as Quinnipiac's Tina Watkins put the visitors on top early, batting a rebound out of the air and past Bulldog netminder Jennifer Gullotti (Waltham, Mass.) less than six minutes into the contest.

The Black and Gold came back for its first tie of the game at 11:21, when Andrusin and Jankins teamed up to score off one of Bryant's seven penalty corners. Andrusin sent the insertion pass to the top of the circle for Jankins, who immediately fired a shot into traffic. But Andrusin, anticipating the attempt, got her stick on the ball just enough to redirect it into the net to the right of Lewis.

Andrusin's four-point night set a new career mark for the junior, and the outburst couldn't have come at a better time. Jankins's pair of assists were the first of her career, and the rookie led the game with five shots on the evening.

On the night, the Bulldogs outshot the Bobcats, 19-13, and put 11 on target. Gullotti made five saves in 70 full minutes of action, while Lewis turned away seven in the loss.

The win, Bryant's seventh of the season, ties a Division I record for the program with one game yet to play on the season. But when the Bulldogs take the field at Sacred Heart in the regular-season finale (Sunday, 3 p.m.), they will be playing for nothing but pride, their first-ever Division I playoff berth already in their back pocket. Quinnipiac still controls its own destiny, with a win in Sunday's finale earning the Bobcats the fourth and final spot in the November tournament.

Bryant will take the field in the school's first-ever Division I and NEC postseason contest Nov. 5 in Lawrenceville, N.J. Game times will be announced once the tournament field is complete upon the conclusion of the 2010 regular season.