Bryant tops Stetson, 13-6, on road

FIVE BULLDOGS SCORE PAIR OF GOALS IN 13-6 VICTORY OVER STETSON

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team got a pair of goals from five different players and scored the first eight tallies of the game to beat Stetson, 13-6, Wednesday night in DeLand, Fla.

Rookie Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and sophomore Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) each scored back-to-back tallies to highlight a 7-0 first frame for the Bulldogs (2-3), and junior Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.) tacked on an unassisted goal to open the second half to cap off the visitors' uninterrupted eight-goal run before the Hatters (0-7) finally got on the board 1:40 into the second stanza.

The Black and Gold answered that score with two more – the second from both Morgan LaBarbera (New Fairfield, Conn.) and Kimberley Sniffen (Redding, Conn.) – to take a 10-2 advantage with just under 27 minutes to play. And while the home side scored three of the next four goals to cut Bryant's lead to 11-4 with 20:13 remaining, the Bulldogs would score two more off an Olivia McCarthy (Sea Girt, N.J.) free position goal and the first-career goal for Corey Mania (Wayne, N.J.) to take the clock down to 6:52 and run the margin to 13-4.

Consecutive tallies from Stetson's Danielle Horgan would go unanswered to wrap up the game's scoring, but the Bulldogs would leave Florida with their second victory of the season in the 13-6 final.

LaBarbera, Descalzo, Sniffen, Burns and junior Katherine Keckeisen (Danbury, Conn.) would each finish the contest with two goals apiece, while LaBarbera and Keckeisen also added an assist for three points on the evening. Junior goalie Brianna Watt (Babylon, N.Y.) made nine saves to get the win, with rookie Kelly Petillo (Manasquan, N.J.) also seeing time between the pipes with one save in her collegiate debut.

Bryant outshot the Hatters, 40-18, including a 26-6 margin in the first half, and won both the ground ball (19-7) and draw control (12-9) battles. Stetson goalie Caili Guilday made 17 stops for the hosts.

Bryant returns to the field Tuesday, March 19 to host USC at the Bryant Turf Complex at 4 p.m.