Bulldogs storm back in second half, triumph in overtime thriller at Winthrop, 13-12, Saturday night

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Facing a 10-4 halftime deficit, four second-frame goals from senior Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) sparked a comeback to force overtime where she netted the game winner, propelling the Bryant University women's lacrosse team over Winthrop University, 13-12, Saturday night in Rock Hill, S.C.

"Everyone did their job and the little things tonight for a total team win," said Bryant head coach Jill Batcheller. "Molly Martin was tremendous with her defensive takeaways, Nicole Britton and Lauren Descalzo leading the way in the second half, Meredith James coming in for cruicial draw controls. We knew it was going to be a tough game and that we were going to have to fight for the full 60 minutes and we did that."

The Bulldogs (3-3) found themselves down, 4-1, midway through the opening half, but goals from Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.), Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) and Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) knotted the score up with 8:53 to play.

Over the final 6:18, the Eagles (8-1) scored six-straight goals, three of which came in the last 54 seconds, to take a 10-4 halftime lead.

"After trailing Brown by six and almost tying that game on Wednesday, we remained calm and knew we needed to push the ball in transition to get back into the game," said Batcheller. "The girls responded to the belief we had and our seniors gave an inspirational speech heading into the locker room to give everyone confidence."

After a quiet opening 30 minutes, Descalzo took her own advice from the halftime message to the team and turned her words into actions. She scored her first goal at the 24:40 mark of the second stanza, and then added two more over the ensuing four minutes to make it 11-7.

Brown netted her second with 15:16 to play, and Descalzo ripped in her fourth score 50 ticks later, before an Ali Cardinal (Schenectady, N.Y.) score capped off a 5-0 Bulldog run to make it 11-10 with under 10 minutes left.

Kristen Shriver ended the stretch and gave Winthrop a 12-10 lead with 7:34 to play, but it was the final goal that the Eagles would register. Nicole Britton caged her second goal of the night with just under four minutes to play, and Brown charted a hat trick with the third goal tying the contest, 12-12, with 2:31 remaining.

Neither side was able to score to close out regulation, sending the game into overtime. The Eagles controlled the draw to start the extra period, but Shriver's shot on the opening host possession went high, give the Bulldogs a chance to win. After holding the ball for a minute and a half, Descalzo attacked the net and punched in her fifth goal of the contest to give Bryant an impressive come-from-behind win.

"Both Lauren and Nicole run the offense and both add the spark when the team needs it most," said Batcheller. "Everyone looks to them for guidance and they always provide it no matter how tired they are, which they did today both on the field and off."

Sophomore netminder Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) was inserted to start the second half, and she played terrific, allowing just two goals while making four stops in picking up her second win of the year.

"Sam in the second half came up with huge saves for us that allowed us to play with so much energy," said Batcheller. "Sam made a huge stick save late in the game which even gave us a chance to play the overtime."

Both Shriver and Abigail Blevins tallied hat tricks, with the former added an assist. Katie Clark netted two and Alexis Linhardt scored twice in the first half, and Shannon Gallagher led all players with four assists.   

"A win like this is a huge win for the program, but it humbles us in a away as well," said Batcheller. "We will use this as confidence going forward knowing that we can beat anyone and are never out of it, but we can't sleep on any opponent and need to get right back after it on Tuesday against Presbyterian."

The Bulldogs remain in South Carolina to take on the Blue Hose on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Livestats can be attained by visiting GoBlueHose.com.