Bulldogs battle Blackbirds and Broncs to open MAAC play on Friday and Sunday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In its conference debut, the Bryant University field hockey team hosts first-year MAAC member LIU Brooklyn on Friday, October 7 at 7 p.m., before traveling to Rider on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs (0-10) are still in the hunt for their first win of the season, as are the Blackbirds (0-8), who started their program this year under head coach Patricia Kennedy. The Blackbirds solely consist of 18 freshman, led by the offensive efforts of Madi Cook, Casey Carrigan and Skai Sprenkle. The three Blackbirds have each notched a goal on the season. Goalies, Molly Jannell and Shelly Drucker have split time in the cage, combining for 66 saves, while Jannell posts a .571 save percentage and Drucker a .476. 

"This is a very exciting game, it being the first conference game for both of us and first conference game for LIU as a program," said head coach Shaunessy Saucier. "They play on field turf at home so they are comfortable on it and we are really going to need to rely on our own skills adjust from the astro turf to field turf."

The Broncs (6-5) post the second-best overall record in the MAAC upon entering league play. Rider has recorded wins over Towson, Georgetown, Villanova, La Salle, St. Francis Pa. and Colgate. In their most recent match, the Broncs lost to Columbia, 4-3, in overtime.

"They are very quick and hit the ball up the field to start their attack," said Saucier. "I think it's going to be a good matchup for us because our defense has been intercepting passes a lot and our forwards have been applying high ball pressure."

Daane Koch leads the team offensively with a conference-high 23 points off nine goals and five assists. Individually, the freshman tops the MAAC charts in five categories, as the team leads the conference in scoring average (2.97), shots (238), shots per game (21.64), goals scored (33), goals scored per game (3.00), assists (24), assists per game (2.18) and penalty corners (92). The Broncs have utilized three different goalies, but freshman Voirrey Baker has seen the most time in net, logging eight saves, while posting a .444 save percentage.

"We are going to be looking for rebounds on the freshman goalie, especially getting second shots off of bouncing balls on the field turf," said Saucier.

"Our short passing game is going to be key to our success in both of these matchups," said Saucier. "We had our best game against Brown with ball movement and ball cycling and we are aiming to build on that."

"Throughout this nonconference season, our focus has been to have a better performance every single game. At this point, our focus has brought us to the point where we need to get a win and getting that win in the first conference game of the season is paramount."

Fans can catch all the action via the live stats and broadcast on bryantbulldogs.com. Also, fans are encouraged to follow Bryant Athletics on snap chat to get a behind the scenes look at field hockey's trip to Rider on Saturday and Sunday.