Burns' big day propels Bulldogs to second-straight NEC Title

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Behind a career-high seven goals from Tournament MVP Shannon Burns (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), the Bryant University women's lacrosse team won its second-consecutive Northeast Conference Tournament Championship, topping second-seeded Wagner, 15-10, Sunday afternoon at the Bryant Turf Complex.

For the second-straight year, the Bulldogs (14-4) and Seahawks (9-10) met in the NEC Tournament Finals, and for the second-straight year Bryant emerged victorious, earning its second NEC Title in just three years of full Division I eligibility under reigning two-time Coach of the Year Jill Batcheller.

However, the 2015 Championship game played out much differently than the lopsided Bulldog rout in 2014, with Wagner holding a slim, but steady lead through the first 38 minutes of action. However, an 8-0 scoring run from the Black and Gold propelled the hosts to an epic come-from-behind victory and the right to play in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

On Sunday, the Seahawks picked up right where they left off vs. Mount St. Mary's in the NEC Semifinals, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the contest. Burns eventually put the Bulldogs on the board with her first of the day off a sweet dish from Emily Columbus (East Northport, N.Y.) at the 25:12 mark but goals were hard to come by for the defending champs as Jessica Roberts' second marker of the afternoon upped the margin back to three goals, 4-1, in favor of the visitors.

The Black and Gold eventually settled down, scoring three of the next four, including tallies from Columbus, Burns, and junior attack Morgan LaBarbera (New Fairfield, Conn.) to cut the gap down to a single goal, but Wagner's do-everything midfielder Shea Gegan made sure her team had the momentum heading into halftime with her second goal of the day with just 16 ticks left in the first half.

With a 6-4 lead coming out of the locker room, Wagner continued to put the pressure on the Bulldogs, upping the advantage to three scores less than two minutes into the second period thanks to an Olivia Streilein tally at the 28:13 mark. But, just as she'd done all game, Burns was there with the answer less than 60 seconds later, dialing up the hat trick to keep her team within striking distance. Gegan responded right back exactly a minute later to make it 8-5 Seahawks but the high-powered Bryant offense would not go down easily as Columbus and Burns cut the margin down to a single goal for just the second time in the entire contest at the 25:13 mark. Tumolo wasted little time putting away her second marker of the game just 35 seconds later, pushing Wagner to the 9-7 edge with just over 24 minutes left on the clock.

And just like that, the tables turned. From the 24-minute mark on it was all Bulldogs as the defending champs rattled off an unprecedented 8-0 run that featured three more goals from Burns, two from NEC Player of the Year Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.), and scores from Columbus, senior Skylar Zlotnick (Essex Fells, N.J.), and junior Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.).

Wagner managed to score at the 3:55 mark to end the 20+ minute drought but it was too little, too late as Bryant secured the 15-10 victory.

Descalzo, Britton and Columbus were each named to the NEC All-Tournament Team with Burns earned MVP honors for her huge day.

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will learn their fate in the upcoming NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening at 9 p.m. with the selection show on NCAA.com with first round action kicking off on Friday, May 8.