Bryant travels to Loretto for pivotal Sunday showdown
LORETTO, Pa. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team faces Saint Francis U Sunday in a pivotal regular-season finale in Loretto.
With a win, the Bulldogs will qualify for their seventh-consecutive Northeast Conference tournament. Bryant can still make the tournament field with a loss, LIU Brooklyn loss, and by having the fewest goals allowed in the games between the Bulldogs, Blackbirds and Red Flash.
The Particulars
Opponent: Saint Francis U
Location: DeGol Field (Loretto, Pa.)
Date and Time: Sunday, April 28 – Noon
Live Stats: SFUAthletics.com
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #GoBryant | #NECWLax
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH
Saint Francis U is 5-9 on the year and 2-4 in the NEC with wins in its last two contests. The Red Flash defeated Central Connecticut 13-9 Friday in Loretto to set up Sunday's showdown.
Emileigh Scott leads the Red Flash with 39 goals, 42 points and 87 draw controls in 2019. Morgan Day has added 30 goals for SFU, which has posted two of its three highest scoring totals of the year in its last two games.
THE SERIES
Bryant is 10-0 all-time against Saint Francis U and 5-0 in Loretto. The Red Flash are the one NEC opponent against which the Bulldogs have a perfect record.
The Bulldogs earned the largest margin of victory in the series history last year in Smithfield with a 21-6 win at the Bryant Track & Turf Complex. Six Bulldogs had multi-goal afternoons, including two from Megan McCarthy (Northampton, Mass.).
LAST TIME OUT: ROBERT MORRIS 12, BRYANT 11
Bryant scored the last three goals of the first half and the first three after the break to go ahead 9-6, but Robert Morris battled back and scored the game-winner with 56 seconds remaining Friday in Moon Township.
GREAT EIGHT
Senior Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) ranks third in the NEC with 47 goals on the year. DeMeo's 198 career goals rank fifth nationally among active players following Friday's game. The senior is two goals away from being the first 200-goal scorer in program history.
DON'T PASS BY THIS NOTE
Juniors Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Maggie Pressler (Smithfield, R.I.) enter Sunday as two of the top three players in the NEC in assists. Breglia leads the conference with 32 on the year while Pressler has added 24.
Bryant ranks 34th in the nation in assists per game in 2019 after finishing 2018 67th nationally.
DRAWING THE LINE
Senior Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) recorded eight draw controls Friday at Robert Morris to give her 109 for the year. Britton is the first player in program history with 100 or more draw controls in a season.
Britton ranked ninth nationally entering the week with 7.21 draw controls per game.
UP NEXT
With a win or tiebreaker, Bryant would play Mount St. Mary's Thursday in the NEC Semifinals in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
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