Keckeisen's four goals leads Bulldogs

Bryant Women's Lacrosse Wins Fourth-Straight, 13-11 over Saint Francis, Pa. 

SMITHFIELD, R.I.- Sophomore Katherine Keckeisen (Danbury, Conn.) scored four goals, while teammate Lauren Sheridan (Bethpage, N.Y.) continued her strong play as of late by adding three tallies to go with an assist as the Bryant University women's lacrosse team picked up a 13-11 win over visiting Saint Francis (Pa.) team Friday night.

Looking for its fourth win in-a-row, Bryant (5-8, 4-2 NEC) took charge early, racing out to a quick 4-1 lead thanks to a pair of Keckeisen goals in just the first 12 minutes of play.  Sheridan, who got the Bulldogs on the board first with an unassisted goal in the sixth minute, set up Keckeisen with a well-timed pass from behind the net for the team's third goal of the game.  Sheridan, who now has 31 goals on the season, came up big with five goals last Saturday in Bryant's win on the road at Monmouth.

Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.) followed just 35 seconds later with a goal in transition and the Bulldogs were off and running.

Saint Francis (2-12, 0-6) would pull to within 4-3 on goals from Kate Simmons and Samantha Barton midway through the first half.  But a nice ground ball pickup in the defensive end by Sheridan helped kick-start a solid clear by Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) who raced nearly three quarters of the field and beat Red Flash goalie Caitlin Flynn with a low shot to give the Bulldogs a two-goal cushion with just over five minutes to go in the half.

Bryant would add a late score from Antoinette Lombardi (Wallingford, Conn.) just before the break to give the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead at intermission.

In the second half, the Bulldogs led 13-7 following Keckeisen's fourth tally of the game with 10 minutes to go.  But Saint Francis would not go away quietly, scoring four unanswered goals to pull to within 13-11.  Leading scorer Danielle Conwell helped key the rally with her 39^th goal of the season.  But Bryant goalie Lauren Filippone (West Babylon, Conn.) would come up with some big saves in the closing minutes and the Bulldogs would hold on from there.

Bryant will host Robert Morris on Sunday at noon in the final home game of the 2012 season.