Bulldogs fall at La Salle, 4-1, Sunday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University field hockey team fell to La Salle, 4-1, Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, Pa.

The Bulldogs (4-11), who took a break from MAAC play for a weekend, ran into a very good Explorer (9-7) squad who scored three times in the first half to secure the three-goal victory on their home turf.

After 19 minutes of scoreless play, La Salle's Colleen Kempf helped the her team get off to a 2-0 start with a pair of goals in the open 25 minutes. At the 19:18 mark, Kempf scooped up a rebound in front of the Bryant cage for her first of the game, following that up with score to the left post off an assist from Maddy Tettelbach.

The Explorers added one more in the first half when Gina Smith and Abbey Lawrence connected at the 34:59 mark to take a 3-0 lead into the break.

Out of halftime, La Salle scored once more at the 47:04 mark when Olivia Leaman fired a shot off a penalty corner that was tipped up and in by Jess Hoffman to extend the host's lead to 4-0.

The Bulldogs lone tally of the contest came at the 62:29 mark when sophomore Victoria Danby (Lancaster, Mass.) collected the ball after a scramble in front of the La Salle cage, and chipped a pass to senior Rosie Bird (Hamilton, New Zealand) for Bird's ninth goal and Danby's eighth assist of the 2014 season (both team highs).

The Black and Gold wrap up the regular season with a pair of huge games against MAAC opponents over the weekend, first visiting Rider on Friday (4 p.m.) before venturing to Monmouth on Sunday (1 p.m.).