Streaking Bulldogs host Colonials, Sunday at noon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team takes the turf on a quest for its eighth-straight victory and fourth to start Northeast Conference play when it takes on Robert Morris on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.

The Bulldogs (9-3, 3-0 NEC) and Colonials (6-6, 2-1) will meet for the eighth time on Sunday, with this matchup's hosts holding a 4-3 series edge. The Bulldogs dropped the first three games of the series, but decisively won the last four, not scoring fewer than 13 goals in any of those games. The Black and Gold defeated Robert Morris, 18-10, in last year's NEC Semifinal contest.

The Bulldogs enter Sunday's contest riding a seven-game win streak, and exploded for 17 goals against Saint Francis U on Friday. Seven different Bryant player's netted goals in its 17-12 win over the Red Flash, including four apiece from freshman sensation Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) and senior attack Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.). Sophomore attack Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) caged two and dished out a pair of assists, freshman midfielder Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) tallied three points on two scores and a helper, junior mid Ali Cardinal (Schenectady, N.Y.) statted the same point total on a goal and two assists. Freshman middie Emma Ahlrichs (Zionsville, Ind.) scored a career-high three goals and junior defender Shannon Sullivan (Farmingdale, N.Y.) added a goal and an assist in the win.

With the exception of Nicole Britton, Brown and sophomore mid Meaghan Brennan (Glen Head, N.Y.), the Colonials have not gotten overly familiar with the Bryant offensive weapons. Nicole Britton has netted two goals and handed out 10 helpers to go along with 14 draw controls in her three matchups with Robert Morris. Brown caged two and tallied one assist in her first two encounters last season, and Brennan scored four goals in the games against the Colonials in 2015.

DeMeo's four-goal effort against Saint Francis gives her 23 on the season and she's averaging four scores per game over her last four outings. After scoring just once in the first six games, Sullivan has caged goals in six-straight, and Brown has tallied at least two goals in eight of the last 10 contests.

Though the Bulldogs have been getting contributions from a plethora of options on offense, the Colonials will have a new face of their own in between the pipes during Sunday's meeting. Freshman Sarah Arnold has made 12 appearances this season with 11 starts, and she sits third in the NEC with 9.59 goals against per game. But she only makes 3.18 saves per outing, ninth-worst in the league. Her goals-against average can be attributed to a solid effort from the unit in front of her, which consists of junior defender Megan Wolfgang, freshman mid Maggie Stella and sophomore mid Dana Davis.

The Colonials sit second in the conference with 9.64 caused turnovers per game and the 9.64 goals allowed per game is also second-best. Davis sits second in the league with 3.09 ground balls per game and third with 1.55 caused turnovers per game, as Stella sits ninth with 1.27 caused turnovers per.

The Robert Morris offense is very similar to that of the Bulldogs with five different players having tallied at least 20 points this season. Davis not only leads the Colonials on the defensive end and on loose balls, but also on the offensive side with a team-high 25 points on 17 goals and eight assists. A quartet of seniors flank Davis on the offense, led by midfielder Corey Karwacki, who has also charted 25 points on 16 goals and eight helpers. Mid Brittany Byerly sits second on the team with 24 (17g, 7a), and mid Jessica Karwacki has tallied 23 points on a squad-leading 20 goals and three assists, as the latter of the two leads the NEC and ranks fifth nationally with 6.55 draw controls per game. Lastly, midfielder Emily Jamison has registered 20 points on 16 scores and four assists.

Each one of the seniors and Davis have had success against the Bulldogs in their careers. Jamison (8g) and Corey Karwacki (8g, 5a) have paced the Colonials in their career-matchups with Bryant. Jessica Karwacki has just two goals and an assist in four meetings with the Bulldogs, but she has tallied 37 draws, including 11 in the 2013 game and 17 in 2014.

Though Bryant has averaged over 17 goals in each of the last three series meetings, Robert Morris has averaged over 11. Despite the matchups being high-scoring, the Bulldogs have had success in causing turnovers and will look to do the same Sunday behind junior defenders Molly Martin (Island Park, N.Y.) and Carly Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.). The pair sit one and two, respectively, in both ground balls and caused turnovers on the team. The two have combined for 11 forced turnovers in three-career matchups with the Colonials.

First draw in Sunday's contest is set to catapult off at 12:00 p.m. and can be followed along via livestats on BryantBulldogs.com.