Women's lacrosse falls in opener, 14-5

Holy Cross defeats Bryant 14-5 in women's lacrosse season opener  

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Holy Cross sophomore Sara Hennessey (Winchester, Mass.) scored three first-half goals and finished with a game-high five goals on the afternoon to help lead the Crusaders to a 14-5 non-conference women's lacrosse victory over host Bryant University Wednesday afternoon.

The win marks the first on the season for the Crusaders (1-2) who also benefited from a three-goal performance by junior Maddie Carrellas (Middletown, R.I.). 

Bryant (0-1), playing for the first time this season, got things off on the right foot right, as senior attacker Lauren Sheridan (Bethpage, N.Y) scored the first of her two goals on the day on a wrap-around just 44 seconds into the contest.  Sophomore Katherine Keckeisen (Danbury, Conn.) ripped a free position shot past goalie Sarah Weber (Summit, N.J.) and the Bulldogs were off and running up 2-0.

But Holy Cross would answer right back, scoring six straight goals over the next 20 minutes of the half. Strong play from the draw control and several unforced turnovers by the Bulldogs helped fuel the scoring rally. Hennessey accounted for three of the Crusaders' tallies, including one on a nice play in front of the Bryant net after collecting a pass from teammate Kayla DiBari (Holderness, N.H.) and beating Bryant goalkeeper Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, N.Y.) with a one-timer to make it 6-2.

The Bulldogs would break the run as sophomore Kimberley Sniffen (Redding, Conn.) cut the Crusaders' lead in half with a free position goal with 1:28 left, but two quick strikes by Holy Cross just before the end of the half sent the visitors into the locker room leading 8-3.

Both teams traded goals in the early moments of the second before Holy Cross put the game away with four-straight scores from four different players and never looked back. Holy Cross out-shot Bryant 36-18 in the game with Filipone coming up with 17 saves in net for the Bulldogs. 

Bryant will open Northeast Conference play this Saturday when the Bulldogs visit Central Connecticut for a 1 pm game. The Bulldogs were 7-2 in conference play a year ago, and were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches' poll.  Holy Cross will travel to Yale on Saturday for an 11 am non-conference matchup in New Haven, Conn.