Sheridan, Bloom pace Bulldogs to 17-11 win

SHERIDAN, BLOOM PACE BULLDOGS TO 17-11 VICTORY OVER LIU BROOKLYN SUNDAY

SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- Senior attacker Lauren Sheridan (Bethpage, N.Y.) netted four goals and added an assist while linemate Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.) completed a hat trick of her own as the Bryant University women's lacrosse team earned its first Northeast Conference victory with a 17-11 topping of LIU Brooklyn Sunday afternoon.

Sheridan's four tallies brings her career goal total to 99, and the senior's five points tied a game high. Brittany Rader paced the Blackbirds (0-11, 0-4 NEC) with five goals, while Caitlin Farrell chipped in five points off two goals and three helpers in the loss.

Neither side led by more than two goals until late in the second half, when the Bulldogs (2-8, 1-2) scored six of the final seven tallies over the last 11 minutes of the contest. But it was LIU who went up early in the contest, 3-1, with consecutive goals from Shakoya Smith, Rader and Farrell in the opening 11 minutes.

Bryant would knot the game at 3-3 just over a minute later, though, when rookie Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) and sophomore Katherine Keckeisen (Danbury, Conn.) scored 43 seconds apart. LIU regained a one-goal edge at the 16:51 mark with Rader's second of the day, but goals from senior captain Mary Green (Merrick, N.Y.) and Bloom gave the home side its first advantage since the game-opening goal midway through the frame, 5-4.

From there, the teams would trade scores for the remainder of the half, as goals from Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) and Skylar Zlotnick (Essex Fells, N.J.), the first of her career, answered Blackbird scores for a 7-6 Bulldog lead heading into the intermission.

Keckeisen, assisted by Bloom, got back on the board with her second of the day just 28 seconds into the second half to spot new goalie Brianna Watt (Babylon, N.Y.), who replaced starter Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, N.Y.) at the break, a two-goal lead, 8-6.

But the Blackbirds went to their favorite targets in Farrell and Rader again to knot the score at 8-8 with 21:20 to play. It would be the visitors' final push of the contest, though, as the Bulldogs would score the next three over a span of just 3:08 to up their lead to 11-8, forcing an LIU timeout.

Back-to-back scores by Ashley Delaney cut the margin to 11-9 before Bloom, Zlotnick and Antoinette Lombardi (Wallingford, Conn.) all put tallies up to drain the game clock down to 5:51. Rader would add her team's final score with 3:43 to play, but three more Bryant goals in the final three minutes, the last two coming from Sheridan, would put the game out of reach for the 17-11 final.

Bryant outshot LIU, 42-23, firing 26 shots in the first half alone and also won the ground ball battle, 22-17. The Bulldogs took the edge on draw controls, 16-14, led by four wins for Burns. Vendel contributed four caused turnovers and three ground balls to the win, while Filippone's four ground balls in 30 minutes of play paced the side. Filippone made five stops while Watt added three more in the second half.

The Bulldogs return to the road after four-straight home games for their next outing, traveling to Mount St. Mary's Thursday for a 5 p.m. league matchup in Emmitsburg, Md.