Bryant wraps up three-game road trip Saturday

THE PARTICULARS

Bryant wraps up three games away from home on Saturday afternoon, when they head to Niagara to take on another MAAC foe, the Purple Eagles. It finishes the longest road sequence of games for Bryant this season.

 

The Bulldogs are coming off a 7-6 loss to Canisius on Thursday afternoon. Redshirt-sophomore Melissa Wamp scored her first two career goals, while Samantha Santeramo made 11 saves, but two turnovers in the final two minutes doomed the Bulldogs' chances to tie it in the waning moments. 

 

THE SERIES

This is the first ever meeting between the Bulldogs and Purple Eagles. This is also the first time that Bryant has taken a trip to Western New York to play any of the four Division I programs in the area.

 

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES

Winners of their first three games, Niagara finds themselves on a cold stretch as they are losers of their previous four. They have struggled defensively, allowing 19 goals per game during the losing streak.

 

The Purple Eagles are led offensively by the two-headed monster of Rachel MacCheyne and Caroline Crump. MacCheyne has scored 23 goals and added eight assists on the year, while Crump has scored 20 goals and chipped in four assists. In the cage, Olivia Schroeder and Aubrey DeVeau have split time. Schroeder enters Saturday with a 14.39 goals-against average and a .430 save percentage while DeVeau sports a 15.21 goals-against average and .408 save percentage.

BRYANT vs. THE MAAC

The Bulldogs have faced five of the nine programs that offer women's lacrosse in the MAAC and will make it seven by the end of the weekend. In addition to their first ever meetings with Canisius and Niagara in 2018, Bryant will also play Siena later in the year. The Bulldogs used to face Monmouth and Quinnipiac when they were in the Northeast Conference and have also played Iona and Manhattan.

 

WAMP RECORDS CAREER DAY

Redshirt-sophomore Melissa Wamp scored her first two career goals on Thursday at Canisius. After twice missing the entire season due to an injury, the Florham Park, N.J. native has seen more time this season and is making the most of it, adding in a pair of ground balls and caused turnovers in her four appearances this season.

 

GOING ON THE OFFENSIVE

Bryant's offense has earned national rankings after four games this season, placing in the Top 10 in four different categories entering the weekend. Bryant is fifth in the country in free position percentage (.563), while sitting seventh in scoring offense (16.25) and points per game (23.00) and eighth in scoring margin (5.75). Additionally, Jess DeMeo is currently second in the country in goals per game (4.75) and 11th in points per game (5.50). Caitlin Breglia ranks third nationally in free position percentage (.875), fourth in free position goals per game (1.75) and ninth in assists per game (2.50). 

 

TAKE CARE OF THE BALL!

Bryant has been able to be one of the best offensive teams in the country based on their ability to hold onto the ball. The Bulldogs rank first in the country in turnovers per game entering the weekend, only giving it away 11.50 times per game. Additionally, Bryant only turns the ball over on 28.7 percent of their possessions, which leads the country by over two percent, according to AnalyticsLacrosse.com.

 

UP TO ELEVEN

Sophomore Caitlin Breglia recorded 11 points on Saturday afternoon, tying the program record for points in a game. That tied her for second-most nationally for points in a game this season, trailing UMBC's Sara Moeller. The six assists she dished out were also second in the country for most assists in a game by a single player. The Long Beach native's previous career-high was seven points against Mount St. Mary's on April 28, 2017.

 

EIGHT FOR EIGHT

Junior Jess DeMeo set a new Division I program record and tied the overall program record by scoring eight goals against Harvard on Saturday afternoon. That number is also the second-highest number of goals in a game this season, trailing Sam Apuzzo of Boston College by one. DeMeo's previous career high was seven goals, when she tallied that many last March against UMass Lowell.

 

ROAD TOUGH

The Bulldogs are 35-14 away from Smithfield under the direction of Jill Batcheller, including a perfect 18-0 in Northeast Conference regular season games on the road. In the 2016 season, Bryant went a perfect 9-0 on the road.

 

SAVES BY SANTERAMO

After recording five all of last season, senior Samantha Santeramo has recorded three double-digit save performances this season after her 11-save display against Canisius on Thursday afternoon. She also recorded 11 against Albany in the home opener and 15 against Brown.

 

 

 

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU

Entering the day with four points, senior Catlin Brown more than doubled her season total after recording five points in the Ocean State Cup on March 7. She scored two of the game's first three goals and then scored the first in a back-to-back sequence that tied the game late in the second half. It was her 13th career hat trick and the fourth in her last eight games, going back to last season.

 

FOUR FOR YOU, EMMA AHLRICHS

The junior out of Zionsville, Ind. set a new career high on March 3, scoring four goals in Bryant's 17-2 win over Hartford. With five goals already on the season, Ahlrichs has surpassed her total from last season and is four goals away from setting a new career-high for goals in a season.

 

0 TO 100 REAL QUICK

Junior Jess DeMeo reached the 100-goal plateau in the first half of the Hartford game, the 38th of her Bulldog career. She is the fastest player in program history to reach the plateau, besting Lauren Descalzo's 40 games. She is the 6th player in Bryant's Division I history to reach the mark and the 12th in the program's history.

 

THREE'S COMPANY

Bryant got three hat-trick scoring efforts in February 24th's victory over Albany, with Jess DeMeo (four goals), Caitlin Breglia and Meredith James (three goals each) all leading the Bulldogs to a 16-6 victory. Jamie Fischer recorded three ground balls in her Bryant debut and James led the Black and Gold with three draw controls.

 

DEFEND OUR DIRT

The Bulldogs have won 13 of their last 15 games in Smithfield, including a season-opening win against Albany on February 24. The Black and Gold are coming off a perfect 9-0 record at the Bulldog Track and Turf Complex in 2017, in which they defeated teams by a combined margin of 84 goals. That includes five games in which Bryant defeated its opposition by 10 or more goals.

 

THE BATCHELLER FILE

With a record of 67-30, sixth-year head coach Jill Batcheller is the winningest coach in Bryant history. Her winning percentage of .691 is 11th nationally among active coaches in the NCAA and third-highest among active coaches in New England.