Bryant clashes with Mount St. Mary's in NEC Semifinal
EMMITSBURG, Md. – The Bryant University women's lacrosse team squares off with Mount St. Mary's in the NEC Semifinals for the second-consecutive year when the Bulldogs and Mountaineers meet Thursday afternoon in Emmitsburg.
Bryant is playing in its seventh-straight NEC tournament and looking for its sixth-consecutive trip to the conference title game.
The Particulars
Opponent: Mount St. Mary's (NEC Semifinal)
Location: Waldron Family Stadium (Emmitsburg, Md.)
Date and Time: Thursday, May 2 – 2 p.m.
Watch: NEC Front Row (Joe Vasile)
Live Stats: MountAthletics.com
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #GoBryant | #NECWLax
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Mount St. Mary's is 17-2 and owns the nation's second-longest winning streak at 12 games. The Mountaineers went 7-0 in NEC play, outscoring their opponents 108-49.
Jordan Butler leads Mount with 54 goals and 69 points in 2019, while Carly Miller has added 23 goals and a team-high 21 assists. Eight Mountaineers have scored 20 or more goals this season. Jillian Petito ranks second nationally in goals-against average (7.33) and save percentage (.549).
THE SERIES
Bryant is 6-5 all-time against Mount St. Mary's and 3-2 in Emmitsburg. The Bulldogs are looking to repeat last year's pattern of rebounding from a regular-season loss to the Mountaineers with a win in the NEC Semfinals.
Mount St. Mary's won this year's regular-season matchup 19-8 in Smithfield April 20. Sophomore Caitlin Bolen (Queensbury, N.Y.) led the Bryant attack with two goals and an assist.
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 20, SAINT FRANCIS U 15
The Bulldogs scored seven goals in the final 9:33 of the contest to turn a tie game into a five-goal victory Sunday in Loretto. Senior Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) and junior Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) scored five goals each and combined for five assists.
COACHING CONNECTIONS
The Bulldog players and coaches will see some familiar faces on the opposing sideline Thursday.
» Mount St. Mary's assistant coach Sam Santeramo graduated from Bryant last May as one of the most accomplished goalies in program history, holding the program record for goals-against average and D1 mark for save percentage while helping lead Bryant to two NEC titles.
» The two head coaches Saturday, Brianna Roche and Lauren Skellchock, were teammates at Johns Hopkins in Roche's freshman season in 2008 as Brianna Cronin and Lauren Schwarzmann.
GREAT EIGHT
Senior Jess DeMeo ranks tied for third in the NEC with 52 goals on the year. DeMeo's 203 career goals rank fifth nationally among active players following Sunday's game. The senior is the first player in program history with 200 career goals.
JERSEY DUO SHORE-LY HAS THE DRAW CIRCLE COVERED
» Seniors and New Jersey natives Lauren Britton (Monmouth Beach, N.J.) and Meredith James (Essex Fells, N.J.) have recorded eight of the top nine single-game draw control performances in Bryant's Division I era this season. Britton tallied a program-record 14 at Sacred Heart, 13 vs. Central Connecticut, 12 vs. Canisius, 10 at Albany and nine against Brown and Jacksonville, while James collected nine against Fresno State and LIU Brooklyn.
» Britton is 10th nationally with 7.19 draw controls per game in 2019. Her 115 draws lead the NEC.
» James recorded four draw controls in Sunday's game at Saint Francis U to give her 171 for her career, good for a tie for second in program history with Nicole Britton.
BOLEN BALLIN'
Sophomore Caitlin Bolen has been a key part of the Bryant offense over the Bulldogs' last four games, contributing 13 points on nine goals and four assists. Bolen has multiple points in all four of those contests and has five multi-goal efforts in her last eight outings.
DON'T PASS ON THIS NOTE
Juniors Caitlin Breglia and Maggie Pressler (Smithfield, R.I.) enter Thursday as two of the top three players in the NEC in assists. Breglia leads the conference with 35 on the year while Pressler has added 25.
Bryant ranks 31st in the nation in assists per game in 2019 after finishing 2018 67th nationally.
UP NEXT
With a win, Bryant would play the winner of the first NEC Semifinal between Wagner and Robert Morris in a game at Mount St. Mary's Saturday at noon for the conference championship and the NEC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.
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