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Smithfield, RI -- The NEC women’s lacrosse runner-up a year ago, the “Road to Redemption” served as Bryant’s theme for the 2014 season. On Sunday, the top-seeded Bulldogs found that redemption, claiming the program’s first-ever NEC championship with a 14-6 win over second-seeded Wagner on its home field in Smithfield, RI.
The Bulldogs used a stifling defense and a six-goal, seven-point performance - both career-highs - from Tournament MVP
Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) to pull away in the second half and head to the NCAAs for the first time since transitioning to Division I. The Bulldogs will learn their NCAA opponent at 9:00 pm when the bracket is announced live on NCAA.com.
“All season long, we’ve made this our goal to be here, and the girls have never faltered,” said Bryant head coach Jill Batcheller. “They’ve always believed this was how it was going to turn out, so I am so proud of them for staying true to Bryant lacrosse.
“We’re excited to watch the selection show tonight together and continue on this awesome journey we’ve had so far.”
Descalzo, an All-NEC first teamer, finished the tourney with 10 goals and an assist in a command performance from the Bryant sophomore attacker. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates
Lindsay Langella (Northport, NY/Northport),
Kim Sniffen (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow), who had a hat trick on Sunday, and
Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, NY/St. Anthony’s), who tallied a pair of title game goals for the Bulldogs.
“She’s so unbelievably quick, but she’s also someone who consistently does her job no matter what the circumstance,” Batcheller about Descalzo. “She’s the person on the attack that everyone on the outside looks to, and to be that key player for us all season long and not get caught up in the pressure is unbelievable for a sophomore.”
Wagner (11-7) was led by a three-goal performance from
Kimmy Tumolo (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview), herself an All-Tournament Team honoree.
Bryant (15-3) raced out to a quick 3-1 lead in the opening minutes. Descalzo opened the scoring, and after Tumolo answered with a free position shot, the Bulldogs received a pair of goals 29 seconds apart from Sniffen and
Kate Keckeisen (Danbury, CT/Danbury).
The Bulldogs extended the lead to 5-1 midway through the first as Descalzo and Keckeisen each netted their seconds goals of the contest, the latter coming on a FPS.
Wagner’s
Taylor Pastore (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) snapped a 12-minute scoreless streak for the Seahawks on a FPS with 12:32 left in the half to cut the lead to 5-2.
After Sniffen scored for Bryant to push the lead back to four goals, Wagner began to make a push.
Pastore scored her second straight followed by Tumolo’s second of the contest 90 seconds later as the Seahawks cut the Bryant lead in half to 6-4.
Descalzo completed a first half hat trick with 2:56 on the clock, but Wagner’s
Gretchen Fay (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) had the answer less than a minute later to make it 7-5 Bryant at the half.
Bloom and Sniffen opened the second half with goals to give Bryant a four-goal edge once again, before Tumolo’s third of the day sliced the lead to 9-6 with 22:33 to play.
That would be the last goal Wagner would score on the afternoon.
Bryant kept the pressure on with Descalzo connecting on her fourth, and after hitting the crossbar on a FPS, NEC Offensive Player of the Year
Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, CT/Newtown) converted a second FPS opportunity to give Bryant its biggest lead of the afternoon at 11-6 with 18 minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs started pulling away midway through the period as Descalzo converted her 50
th goal of the season and fifth of the game, followed by a Bloom marker with 13:29 on the clock.
Descalzo put an exclamation point on the contest with her sixth goal at the 2:38 mark.
“At halftime, we didn’t even really talk about Xs and Os,” said Batcheller. “We just talked about owning it in our confidence and our composure, and that is exactly what they did. Anytime the ball came down on offense, our defense figured out a way to get a stop, and our offense captured the momentum at a lot of key points in the game and was able finish well. All season long, our attack has been able to show how dynamic we are.”
Brianna Watt (Babylon, NY/Babylon) finished with seven saves for Bryant, while her Wagner counterpart
Katie Ferraro (Owings Mills, MD/McDonogh) turned back five shots.
Bryant had the edge in draw controls (15-7) and ground balls (21-13).
2014 NEC Women’s Lacrosse All-Tournament Team
Lauren Descalzo (BRY) - MVP
Haley Bloom (BRY)
Lindsay Langella (BRY)
Lisa Vendel (BRY)
Caitlin Daly (WC)
Gretchen Fay (WC)
Katie Ferraro (WC)
Kimmy Tumolo (WC)
Meaghan McCurry (CCSU)
Morgan Tullar (CCSU)
Jessica Karwacki (RMU)
Stacy Wade (RMU)