DeMeo nets four goals to guide Bulldogs past River Hawks, 11-9, Wednesday night

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team was tested by a stingy UMass Lowell side, but never trailed in a physical 11-9 victory Wednesday in Smithfield.

Freshman Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) had the best game of her young Bulldog (6-3) career with four goals including the game winner. Senior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) netted a goal and dished out two assists, while sophomore midfielder Meaghan Brennan (Glen Head, N.Y.) registered two goals. Both sophomore netminders Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) and Daja Andrews (Lumberton N.J.) controlled the crease, as the former picked up her fifth win after tallying three saves allowing three scores in the first half, while the latter also turned away three shots and allowed six goals in the second.

Kristina Keith paced the River Hawks (1-9) with a hat trick coming in the second half, and their leading scorer, Noelle Lambert, netted two goals, as Paige MacEachern tallied a goal and an assist. Courtney Barrett played the full 60 minutes between the pipes, making nine saves, seven in the second half to go along with a game-high seven ground balls.

Bryant jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game following goals from DeMeo and Brennan. The hosts were swarming on defense for much of the first half, causing 17 River Hawk turnovers in the opening frame, and were able to maintain the 2-0 edge for nearly half of the stanza.

UMass Lowell finally found the back of the cage at the 16:09 mark on a Jenn Guen score, and MacEachern tied the contest, 2-2, just 30 seconds later on a nice charge to goal from behind the crease. The Bulldogs responded with three of the last four goals of the half to take a 5-3 advantage into the intermission.

Britton converted a free-position attempt after a hard foul less than two minutes into the second stanza, and DeMeo completed the hat trick four minutes later to make it 7-3.

The Bulldogs led by no fewer than three and as many as five over the next 20 minutes. Lambert's second goal on a free-position rip past Andrews made it 9-6 with 11:21 to play. The score remained the same for the next six minutes until DeMeo and Brennan each scored from 10 feet in front of the crease on hip shots from their right, as both scores were set up by passes from Britton into the middle, giving Bryant its largest lead, 11-6.

Keith fired in two shots followed by a Megan Albertsen unassisted goal in a 1:30 stretch to make it 11-9 with 1:08 to play, but it was too little too late, as the Bulldogs were able to wind down the clock and pick up their fourth-straight victory and their first win at home.

The Black and Gold will have eight days in between games before their Northeast Conference opener at Mount St. Mary's on Friday, April 8, with first draw set for 4:00 p.m.