Second-half comeback falls short at home against Yale in 12-8 loss

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore attack Emily Columbus (East Northport, N.Y.) registered a career-high five points, including a pair of goals to open the second half, but the Bryant University women's lacrosse team couldn't overcome a nine-goal Yale start, as the Bulldogs fell, 12-8, at home Wednesday afternoon.

Paced by Columbus's career-best four goals, the Bulldogs (2-2) outscored the Elis (3-1), 8-3, after the intermission, but the late surge wouldn't nullify a 9-0 halftime lead in favor of Yale.

The Elis got the scoring started less than five minutes into the contest with a tally from Erin Magnuson, and seven different goal scorers got on the board for the visitors in the opening 30 minutes. Kerri Fleishhacker found the back of the net three times in the opening stanza, pushing Yale's lead to 8-0 with her third with 3:08 left on the clock.

Columbus would get the Black and Gold on the board for the first time just 90 seconds into the second half and would repeat the effort with 23 minutes remaining in the game to cut Yale's lead to 9-2.

A Christina Doherty tally renewed an eight-goal edge for the visitors with 16:14 remaining before Bryant ripped off a trio of scores over less than five minutes to cut Yale's lead in half, 10-5. Junior attack Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) kicked off the run with her 12th goal of the season with 11 minutes left to play, and Columbus followed up just over two minutes later to cap off her second hat trick of the season.

With 6:31 remaining on the clock, senior midfielder Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) took a pass from junior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) and found real estate behind goalie Sydney Marks (3 saves) for the 10-5 margin.

Yale's Cathryn Avallone would interrupt the run with a goal 70 seconds later, and while the Bulldogs responded with another pair – tallies from Descalzo and the fourth of the day from Columbus – and capped off the game with a score from Britton with one second on the clock, the Bulldogs wouldn't be able to complete the comeback in the 12-8 final.

On the afternoon, Bryant outshot Yale, 24-23, and edged its visitors in the ground ball battle, 15-14. Rookie Laura Fullam (Massapequa, N.Y.) paced the game with four ground balls, also adding a contest-best three caused turnovers. Yale went 7-of-9 of its free position attempts, however, to just a 1-of-5 mark from the Black and Gold. The visitors also earned the final edge off the draw, 11-9.

Erin Mullins picked up the win for the Elis between the pipes, making six saves in a flawless first half. Rookie netminder Daja Andrews (Lumberton, N.J.) took the loss for the Bulldogs, turning away two while facing 11 opening-frame shots. Classmate Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) would take over after the break, finishing the half with five stops.

The Bulldogs return to the field Saturday afternoon, hosting Siena College at the Bryant Turf Complex at 1:00 p.m.