#1 Bulldogs battle #4 Pioneers in Friday’s first NEC Semifinal matchup at 4 p.m.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After earning the right to host the Northeast Conference Tournament for a third-consecutive season, the Bryant University women's lacrosse team will look to make it three-straight titles, as the defense of its crown begins on Friday against Sacred Heart at 4:00 p.m.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (12-4, 6-1 NEC) and the fourth-seeded Pioneers (8-7, 4-3) met on the Black and Gold's senior day on May 1. The hosts honored their three seniors with a 16-5 victory. After missing a month due to a knee injury, senior attack and All-NEC Second Team selection Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, N.Y.) returned to net three goals. Fellow senior attack and NEC Offensive Player of the Year Nicole Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) also caged three and handed out an assist, as NEC Rookie of the Year Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) scored two goals and had one helper.

The defense was stellar in that game, as they were in each of the last three games of the season. NEC Defensive Player of the Year Molly Martin (Island Park, N.Y.) caused three of Sacred Heart's 21 turnovers.

All-NEC First Team honoree Caitlin Delaney helped pace the Pioneers offensively in that game, as she has all year, with a goal and an assist. Junior attack Alyssa Pearce registered the same numbers on the stat sheet.

They will once again need to be the focal point of a Bulldog defense that finished the season allowing no more than seven goals in the final three contest. The NEC leaders for the scoring defense were also paced by fellow All-NEC First Team selections, junior defender Carly Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and sophomore goalie Samantha Santeramo (Wantagh, N.Y.). Cronin had a caused turnover in last Sunday's meeting and two ground balls, while Santeramo allowed just four goals in 50 minutes of action.

Fellow second-year netminder Paige Hammick allowed all 16 of Bryant's goals in that matchup, but she made nine saves against a deep attack that re-added Descalzo to it on that day.  

Friday's semifinal marks the ninth meeting of the series and the first in the tournament. All of the action can be seen live on NECFrontRow.com, followed along on Twitter at BryantGameday and followed along via livestats on BryantBulldogs.com.