Bird scores four in loss at Dartmouth

ROSIE BIRD TALLIES FOUR GOALS IN THE BULLDOGS 6-5 LOSS AT DARTMOUTH

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Despite an extremely impressive four-goal effort by sophomore Rosie Bird (Hamilton, New Zealand), the Bryant University field hockey team fell to Dartmouth, 6-5, Wednesday afternoon.

Bird recorded a hat trick in final 26 minutes of play, including two scores in the final four minutes, to close the day with a whopping four goals. Junior Olivia Jankins (West Brookfield, Mass.) registered the other Bryant goal at the 42:10 mark, at the time, cutting the Big Green lead to just two.

Dartmouth began the contest with four straight goals creating a daunting deficit for the Black and Gold. Liz Blanken, Lisa Masini, Maggie Scanlon and Brooke Van Valkenburg all recorded scores for the Big Green in the first 32 minutes of play. However, the resilient Bulldogs would go on to answer with three straight goals of their own.

Bird closed out the half with her first tally, while Jankins registered her second marker of the season to open up second half play. Bird fired home her second goal at the 44:06 mark to bring Bryant within one, however, the aggressive Dartmouth attack answered with a pair of goals by Sam Anderson and Samantha McPherson to give the home team a 6-3 edge.

The New Zealander would add two more scores in the final four minutes to bring the Bulldogs within one, however, despite a valiant effort it would not be enough.

The five-goal effort is the highest by the Bulldogs this season through eight games.

Junior Kayleigh Ballantyne (Gorham, Maine) assisted on three of the five Bulldog goals, and classmate Megan Hancock (Skowhegan, Maine) recorded eight saves between the pipes.

Bird's offensive outburst adds to her already team-leading fourteen points and Ballantyne's three helpers place her second on the Bryant leaderboard with nine points. Of the 13 goals recorded by the Bulldogs, Bird has tallied seven of them and Ballantyne has assisted on seven.

The Black and Gold will have a few days to prepare before their third-straight Ivy League opponent on Monday, when they travel to Cambridge for a showdown with the Harvard Crimson. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

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