SHERIDAN SCORES FOUR; BULLDOGS DOWNED BY LIONS, 16-8, AT HOME FRIDAY AFTERNOON
March 26, 2010
SHERIDAN SCORES FOUR; BULLDOGS DOWNED BY LIONS, 16-8, AT HOME FRIDAY AFTERNOON
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women’s lacrosse team played to a strong second-half draw, but couldn’t keep the Columbia offense in check during first-half play, falling to the Lions, 16-8, Friday afternoon at the Bryant Turf Complex.
The Bulldogs (1-7) came out of the halftime break and played a tough second frame despite being down, 12-4, and worked for a second-session tie, with both sides scoring four goals. Columbia (4-3) was led by nine points from Brittany Shannon, seven of them goals, and another six points from Gabrielle Geronimos off four goals and two assists.
Down, 12-4, entering the final 30 minutes, the Black and Gold saw their deficit upped by two in the first seven minutes of the second frame, thanks to goals by Shannon and Geronimos. The pair were the only Columbia goal scorers in the second half.
But with the score 14-4 in the visitors’ favor, the Bulldogs fought back, clawing their way to four-straight tallies over less than a four-minute span. The run was kickstarted by the first collegiate goal of freshman Emily Bogan (Swansea, Mass.), who put in a free position shot with 20:17 left to play to spark the four-goal streak. Fellow rookie Kelsea Gettings (Wallingford, Conn.) followed it up with a free position goal of her own, her third tally of the year, just over two minutes later to bring the score to 14-6, and just 23 seconds after, sophomore leading scorer Lauren Sheridan (Bethpage, N.Y.) score the first of back-to-back unassisted tallies, scoring the second just 1:20 later for a 14-8 score.
That would be the last of Bryant’s tallies, though, and Shannon would answer with a pair of unassisted goals to up the final score to 16-8.
But it would be the Bulldogs who recorded the first goal of Friday’s contest, when sophomore Kayla Manzi (Agawam, Mass.) took a pass from Sheridan and put it past Columbia goalie Karlee Blank for a 1-0 lead.
It wouldn’t be long – just two minutes – until the Lions tied it up with an unassisted Taylor Gattinella goal, and Columbia would follow with six more uninterrupted tallies – one more from Gattinella, two from Geronimos, two from Shannon and one from Kacie Johnson – in a span of just over 10 minutes to move the score to 7-1.
Sheridan responded with her first of four goals on the day at the 12:29 mark – the sophomore would end with five points off four tallies and a helper – and senior captain Alli Faiola (Billerica, Mass.) closed the Bulldogs’ deficit to 7-3 less than a minute later with an immediate shot after getting fouled for her first and only score of the outing.
But the Lions weren’t satisfied with their lead, stringing together five more goals before Sheridan notched her second of the day with just nine seconds remaining on the first-period clock, sending Bryant into the locker room with a 12-4 deficit and setting up the 4-4 second-half battle.
The Bulldogs were hurt by a trio of yellow cards in the game, including a pair of overlapping penalties, and were outshot, 33-17, on the contest. Columbia edged Bryant in ground balls, 27-23, but rookie Nicole Rettinger (Dix Hills, N.Y.) tied a game high with five. Rettinger also led the way in caused turnovers, forcing a game-best six out of Lion sticks.
Columbia dominated the draw controls in the affair, winning 20 of the 26 opportunities, and was stellar on the clear, completing 17-of-18. The Bulldogs were successful on 14-of-23 clear attempts and went 3-for-7 on free position opportunities. Both teams turned the ball over 22 times.
Blank made five saves between the pipes for the Lions while Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, N.Y.) and Jessica Bolton (Belgrade Lakes, Maine) split time in the Bryant cage, making six and four stops, respectively.
The Bulldogs have just a one-day break before taking on Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. on Sunday, March 28 at 1 p.m.