Bryant Drops America East Opener at Vermont

BURLINGTON, Vt.- The Bryant women's lacrosse team dropped its America East opener on Saturday, falling 17-7 to Vermont in Burlington.

Skylar Simmonds recorded her third straight hat trick and Lily Auger added a pair of goals for her first multi-goal game this year. Chamberlaine Bell and Amelia Piercy also got into the scoresheet for the Bulldogs.

Vermont 17, Bryant 7

Records: BRY (4-3, 0-1 AE), UVM (4-4, 1-0 AE)

How it Happened

Q1: Bryant got off to a hot start against the defending conference champs, with Auger and Bell netting the game's first two goals. The Bulldog defense held Vermont scoreless for the first ten minutes of play, but the Catamounts broke through with three straight scores to close the quarter.

Q2: The Bulldogs had multiple chances to erase the deficit in the second quarter, cutting the gap to one after Vermont went up two early in the period. Skylar Simmonds led for Bryant offensively, scoring two of her three goals in the quarter, with Auger adding another just before halftime.

Q3: The Catamounts took control of the game early in the second half, scoring three straight to open up a five-goal lead. Simmonds broke through for Bryant at the 11:26 mark, but Vermont tacked on two more before Amelia Piercy scored the Bulldogs' final goal of the game with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter. 

Q4: The Bulldogs were stymied offensively in the fourth quarter, scoring no goals, taking just one shot on goal, and turning the ball over eight times as Vermont went on a 5-0 run to end the game.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Simmonds' hat trick was her third in a row, fifth this season, and 14th in her career. She now has 85 career goals.

• Lily Auger scored multiple goals for the first time since 4/27/22. She has now scored in five consecutive games.

• Madison Henry tied a career-high with three caused turnovers. She and Kelly Ford combined for five of Bryant's seven in the game.

• Kenna Kaut was held scoreless for the first time since 4/17/21, a span of 27 straight games with a goal. 

• Bryant's seven goals were a season low and the fewest they have scored since 4/13/21 against Wagner. The Bulldogs had gone 31 consecutive games with at least ten goals.

• The ten-goal loss was Bryant's largest defeat since an 18-4 loss in the  2019 NEC semifinals against Mount St. Mary's.

What's next: The Bulldogs will be back at Beirne for two games this week, taking on Brown on Tuesday at 4:00 pm and UMass Lowell on Saturday at 1:00 pm.