Bryant outlasts Quinnipiac in season opener

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Three Bulldogs grabbed hat tricks as the Bryant University women's lacrosse team opened the season with a 14-12 victory over Quinnipiac on Wednesday evening.

Junior Caitlin Bolen (Queensbury, N.Y.) led the Black and Gold with a career-high four goals followed by Caitlin Breglia (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Alexa Weber (South Windsor, Conn.) with three apiece.  

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant 14, Quinnipiac 12
Records: Bryant (1-0), Quinnipiac (0-1)
Location: Beirne Stadium (Smithfield, R.I.)

COACH ROCHE'S COMMENTS

"Quinnipiac is a gritty team that played us until the very end and I'm proud of our team for playing hard until the final whistle," said head coach Brianna Roche. "We're working to clean a few things up on the field in order to maximize our possessions and will use these next two days as an opportunity to sharpen our skills for our next game. We're excited to take on Brown this coming Saturday!"

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bobcats opened the game with a free position goal just three minutes into the game to take the early lead.
• Exactly 20 seconds later, the Bulldogs came out with the draw control and strung together passes up the field to Caitlin Bolen to even the score. The Bulldogs went on to net five more to take the lead, 6-1.
• At 12:17 in the first half, Quinnipiac found the back of the net before Bryant responded with a tally of its own.
• With under ten minutes to go in the first half, the Bobcats scored three-straight to pull within two, 5-7, but Bolen dashed through the defense with 12 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a three-goal cushion heading into the second half.
• The Bulldogs opened the half with five consecutive goals from Bolen, Breglia, Weber, Maggie Pressler (Smithfield, R.I.), and Cassidy Burns (Massapequa, N.Y.) to keep Quinnipiac scoreless until halfway through the final frame, 13-5.
• Quinnipiac started cutting into Bryant's lead at the 14:43 mark with back-to-back free-position tallies. The Bobcats continued its run when it capitalized off a Bryant turnover to make the score 13-8.
• Breglia picked up her third goal to complete the hat trick at 4:17 for Bryant's final goal of the game when she took off from behind the net and snuck the ball past the goalkeeper.
• The Bobcats closed out the game by scoring four-straight to get within two with seven seconds remaining. The clock played into the Bulldog's favor as they were able to outlast Quinnipiac, 14-12.   

STATS

• Bolen led the Black and Gold with four goals, one assist, one caused turnover, and two ground balls.
• Both Breglia and Weber posted hat trick performances. Breglia also contributed one assist, one ground ball, and one caused turnover while Weber grabbed three draw controls, a ground ball, and one caused turnover.
• Burns added two goals, one assist, two ground balls, and one caused turnover.
• Pressler tallied one goal and one assist.
• Freshman Skylar Simmonds (Jupiter, Fla.) netted one goal while adding one assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers.
• Junior Megan McCarthy (Northampton, Mass.) led with a game-high 10 draw controls.
• Giana Kapoosuzian (Merrick, N.Y.) stopped 11 while facing 23 shots.  

GAME NOTES

• Simmonds and Burns posted their first goals ever while wearing the Black and Gold.
• McCarthy's 10 draw controls mark a career-high.
• Bolen set a new career-high with four goals and two ground balls. The junior also tied her career-high with five points.
• Weber's hat trick is a career-high.
• Breglia is now tied for third all-time with Lauren Descalzo '16 and Caitlin Hansen '08 with 195 career points.
• The Bulldogs take the all-time series record against the Bobcats, 4-3, and 2-1 in Smithfield.
• Today's win is the first season-opening victory for the Black and Gold since 2018. Bryant now holds a 3-1 home-opening record since they have opened every season up at home since 2017.

UP NEXT: Brown
Bryant hosts Brown on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 12 p.m. as the Bulldogs look to defend their Ocean State Title.

Season tickets are still on sale and can be purchased HERE.