Bulldogs dominate final 45 minutes and honor seniors with 16-5 win over Pioneers, Sunday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I.—The Bryant University women's lacrosse team trailed, 4-2, midway through the first half, but turned on the accelerators from there, outscoring Sacred Heart, 14-1, to close out the game and clinch the Northeast Conference regular season title with a 16-5 Senior Day victory.

"The season has been filled with so much adversity due to players going down to injury and we had so many girls that stepped up," said Bryant head coach Jill Batcheller. "Credit a lot of the underclassmen for filling in and elevating their play to create the environment we did. One of the themes this year was being a good teammate and everyone bought into that which is why we were able to overcome the adversity and be in the position we are now."

The Bulldogs' (12-4, 6-1 NEC) three seniors, Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.), Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and Morgan LaBarbera (New Fairfield, Conn.), all started the game. Britton and junior mid Ali Cardinal (Schenectady, N.Y.) tallied four points on three scores and one assist each, while sophomore attack Catlin Brown (San Diego, Calif.) caged two and had a pair of assists. Descalzo netted three goals, and freshman mid Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) registered two scores and one helper. Sophomore netminder Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.) improved to 11-1 on the year with a three-save effort and allowed four goals in 50 minutes of action.

"It was incredible to have the three seniors out there together for one final regular season game," said Batcheller. "They are so selfless and care so much about the team's success. They show so much passion every day and that passion is what makes everyone on this team want to give it their all."

Caitlin Delaney and Alyssa Pearce paced the Pioneers (8-7, 4-3) with one goal and one assist apiece. Jenna Liljeberg, Averi Farhat and Anna Finn each netted a goal in the loss. Paige Hammick was bludgeoned by 36 shot attempts, as she allowed 16 goals with nine saves.

The game could not have started off any better for the Black and Gold, as Descalzo and Britton both scored on their senior day in the first five minutes to give their team a 2-0 lead. But Delaney won the ensuing draw following the Britton score and she took it all the way, caging a bounce shot to make it 2-1 with 25:30 to play. It was the first of four-straight goals over the stretch of just more than 10 minutes, with Liljeberg scoring the final goal to give the visitors a 4-2 lead with 13:57 remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs hammered down defensively from there and vamped up the offense. Cardinal scored her first just one minutes later and the hosts would tack on a goal per minute over the next four to make it 7-4 with 8:16 to play. DeMeo netted her first and then set up Britton with just 40 seconds to go, giving Bryant a commanding 10-4 halftime lead.

The run extended in the second half to 14-consecutive scores, as the Pioneers did not get their fifth and final goal until there were 21 seconds to go. The Bulldogs gave up just 15 shots in the contest, 10 of which were on target. The Bulldogs were also swarming during Sacred Heart clear attempts, as they forced turnovers on nine of the 18 attempts for the visitors.

With the win, the Bulldogs clinch the top seed in the NEC Tournament, set to begin on Friday, May 6. Bryant will host and face the four-seeded Pioneers in a quick rematch. Wagner and Robert Morris will be the other semifinal game next Friday.  

"Our offense is now as complete as it has been all year with Lauren coming back into the mix, and especially on her senior day was something we were looking forward to," said Batcheller. "Everyone is playing with so much belief in themselves, so going into the tournament next week we feel very confident as a team and are grateful to be hosting once again."