Sibling rivalry refreshed as CCSU visits Bryant Friday at 7 p.m.

BULLDOGS LOOK FOR SIXTH WIN IN LAST SEVEN GAMES AGAINST LEAGUE-LEADING CCSU TONIGHT AT 7 P.M.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. — The Bryant University women's lacrosse team looks to earn its seventh win of the season and sixth in the last seven outings Friday night (7 p.m.), as the Bulldogs host Central Connecticut State University in a game that pits two of the top teams in the Northeast Conference.

Friday's game will also feature a sibling rivalry for the ages, as CCSU (6-5, 4-0 NEC) leading scorer Betsy Vendel (20 goals, 13 assists) visits the home field of younger sister Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, Conn.), who leads the Bulldogs (6-4, 3-1) in 2013 with 34 points off an impressive 29 goals and five assists.

The Bulldogs enter the contest off a 17-9 conference victory over Sacred Heart Saturday afternoon and will be looking to hand the Blue Devils their first league loss of the season. The winners of five straight, CCSU comes to Smithfield in search of its third road victory to remain undefeated atop the NEC standings.

Vendel is one of two 20-goal scorers for the Black and Gold and is joined by classmate Kimberley Sniffen (Redding, Conn.) (22 goals). Junior attack Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, N.Y.) sits second on the team in points with 29 off 16 goals and a team-leading 13 helpers, while freshman linemate Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y) earned her second NEC Rookie of the Week selection after netting a career-high five tallies Saturday against the Pioneers (19 goals). Both Bloom and sophomore Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) also added hat tricks to help lead the Bulldogs to their win over Sacred Heart.

The Blue Devils will look to senior Mackenzy Ryan and junior Amanda Toke for help on the offensive end. The pair have 26 and 21 points on the year, respectively, and are among five double-digit goal scorers for CCSU. The Blue Devil defense will be led by senior Ali Roche, who has an impressive 40 ground balls on the season. Sophomore netminder Morgan Tullar has started all 11 games for Friday's visitors, boasting a 9.19 goals against average and .460 save percentage.

Can't make it to the game? Watch all the action LIVE and free of charge at NECfrontrow.com.