Bulldogs fall to Golden Bears

Field hockey falls short in final game of west coast trip on Monday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University field hockey team fell to the University of California, 5-0, on Monday in the third and final game of their west coast road trip.

Held scoreless for the first time this season, the Bulldogs (1-3) came up short in Berkeley, Calif., against a talented Golden Bears squad which improves to 2-2 on the year.

The two teams played even for the first 22 minutes of the contest before a barrage of California goals created an insurmountable deficit for the Black and Gold. Two scores separated by nearly 50 seconds gave the Golden Bears a 2-0 advantage in the blink of an eye. Junior Jordan O'Reilly netted her first score of the year at the 23:43 mark off a tip-in and sophomore Lara Kruggel scored her first of three goals in the contest 24 minutes into the game.

At the 34:02 mark, sophomore Caroline Strujik made the most of a broken penalty corner to net the third goal of the half, for the home team, right before the break, making it 3-0 Cal.

Kruggel added two more scores in the second half at the 51:55 and 65:18 marks to make the final score, 5-0, in favor of California.

The Bulldogs got off three shots on goal, but keeper Joelle van Hoorn was able to handle the Bryant attack. Megan Hancock (Skowhegan, Maine) finished the contest with five saves in her fourth start of the year.

Rosie Bird (Hamilton, New Zealand) finished the game with two shots, both on goal, to lead the Bulldogs. Molly Morrison (York, Maine) and Brittany Vasconcelos (Tiverton, R.I.) both had shots in the contest, as well.

The Bulldogs look to get back in the win column when they head to Orono, Maine for a showdown with Rutgers on Saturday at 2p.m.

For all the latest news on the Bryant University field hockey team, visit BryantBulldogs.com