Bryant stays perfect in NEC play, tops LIU Brooklyn, 16-12, at home Sunday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Three players recorded hat tricks and the Bulldogs dominated the stat sheet, as the Bryant University women's lacrosse team remained undefeated in Northeast Conference action with a 16-12 win over LIU Brooklyn Sunday afternoon.

Junior Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and sophomore Emily Columbus (East Northport, N.Y.) each scored a game-best four goals, while rookie midfielder Meaghan Brennan (Glen Head, N.Y.) picked up the first hat trick of her career with a trio of tallies. Seniors Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) and Skylar Zlotnick (Essex Fells, N.J.) each added a pair for the Bulldogs (9-3, 3-0 NEC), while junior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) also contributed four points off a goal and three assists.

Jenn Peters and Sierra O'Connor notched hat tricks of their own to pace the Blackbirds (6-6, 2-1), who never led in the contest thanks to a 6-0 start from the Black and Gold offense. O'Connor would tie Descalzo (4g, 1a) to lead the game with five points, adding a pair of assists to her three-score day.

Columbus scored three of the Bulldogs' opening five goals through the first 11 minutes of Sunday's contest, and the hosts would take a 6-0 advantage off an unassisted Burns score with 18:30 still left on the first-half clock.

Mary McQueen finally broke through the Bryant defense with 16 minutes to go in the frame, and Peters would make it back-to-back unassisted scores from the Blackbird ranks just over three minutes later for a 6-2 margin.

Off a pass from classmate Morgan LaBarbera (New Fairfield, Conn.) (2 assists), Descalzo renewed a five-goal lead for the Black and Gold with 10 minutes to go, but it would be the final Bryant tally of the half. LIU Brooklyn took over the momentum in the final 10 minutes, capitalizing on their offensive possessions with straight scores from McQueen, O'Connor and Peters to send the teams into the locker room with a 7-5 margin that favored the home side at the break.

But the Bulldogs would pull away quickly in the opening minutes of the second stanza, scoring six uninterrupted goals over just a five-minute span to drain the clock to 22:33 with a 13-5 Bulldog advantage. Brennan and Zlotnick would each score twice in the stretch.

The sides would trade goals twice from there, and while the Blackbirds would go on to score five of the last six goals down the stretch, it wasn't enough to make up the difference, as Bryant held on for a 16-12 victory at home.

Alexis Maldonado made an impressive 12 stops between the pipes for the visitors but faced an onslaught of 41 Bulldog shots, the most the team has taken all season. Limited to just six in the first 30 minutes, LIU Brooklyn fired only 16 shots on the afternoon and was also outdone on the ground ball game, 24-16.

Bryant also dominated off the draw, winning a season-high 21 draw controls to LIU's nine. Burns led the game with six wins, while sophomore defender Carly Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) picked up a game-best six ground balls to go along with four draw controls. The Bulldogs forced a season-high 14 caused turnovers on the day.

Bryant will hit the road for its next weekend of NEC competition, traveling to western Pennsylvania to take on Robert Morris (Friday, April 17; 3 p.m.) and Saint Francis U. (Sunday, April 19; 12 p.m.).