Bulldogs host Holy Cross in season debut
BULLDOGS OPEN 2012 SEASON AT HOME, HOST HOLY CROSS WEDNESDAY AT 4 P.M.
SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- The Bryant University women's lacrosse team gets set to open the 2012 campaign Wednesday, welcoming regional rival Holy Cross to the Bryant Turf Complex for a 4 p.m. matchup.
Wednesday's contest marks the third outing of the season for the Crusaders (0-2), but the season debut for the host Bulldogs. Holy Cross is winless in two tries this season and is paced on the year by Taylor Zebrowski's five points and team-high 11 shots. Maggie Reichenbach ties Zebrowski with four tallies on the 2012 campaign, while Laura Ryan leads the team with nine draw control wins.
Maddie Carrellas and goalie Sarah Weber have each picked up a side-best five ground balls in two games this year, while the former has a Crusader-high four caused turnovers. Weber has played all 120 minutes for Holy Cross between the pipes, posting a .306 save percentage and a 17.00 goals against average with 15 saves, having faced 77 total shots. On the season, the Crusaders have been outscored, 34-13, in losses to UMass (18-8) and Boston College (16-5) and are 0-1 on the road in 2012.
Holy Cross will be on the hunt for that first season win Wednesday against a Bryant side led by reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year Haley Bloom and NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Lauren Filippone. The Bulldogs are coming off an impressive season in which they finished second in the regular-season Northeast Conference standings with a 7-2 league record and posted an 8-8 overall mark. The Black and Gold closed the 2011 campaign with five-straight victories, including an 11-9 win over eventual league champion Quinnipiac and look to continue their progress from a season ago.
And the 2012 version of the Bryant roster did nothing but add weapons in the offseason, graduating just a single player off the 2011 roster. Offensively, the Bulldogs look for last year's impressive freshman class to come out even stronger in their sophomore campaigns with a year of experience under their belts. Bloom, the Black and Gold's leading scorer in 2011, headlines that group, as this year's sophomore class accounted for 61 percent of the Bulldogs' scoring a year ago.
Bloom's team-best 41 points came on the strength of 27 goals and 14 assists, while classmate Katherine Keckeisen is also back after finishing second on the team with 30 points and a side-high 28 goals in her rookie campaign. Senior captain Lauren Sheridan and sophomore Lisa Vendel also return as 20-goal scorers, while the former sits at 78 scores on her Bulldog career entering her final season.
On the other side of the field, Filippone -- the second of three senior captains -- returns between the pipes to anchor the Black and Gold defense after finishing last season ranked sixth nationally with a .498 save percentage and 10th in both saves per game (10.0) and ground balls per game (3.0). She will be joined by a backline that includes captain Mackenzie Baker and junior Nicole Rettinger, while a host of Bulldogs fight for time of their own on the field.
Wednesday's game and the 2012 season kick off at 4:00 p.m. at the Bryant Turf Complex. Can't make it to the game? Watch the whole thing LIVE on the Bulldog Sports Network at www.bryantbulldogs.tv.