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Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – A five-goal second half run from Bryant proved to be the difference Wednesday afternoon at Duane Stadium, as the Merrimack College women's lacrosse team fell to the Bulldogs by an 18-10 final.
Haley Bartlett and
Meghan Dzialo continued their sensational senior seasons with big offensive days. Bartlett registered a team-high six points on four goals and two assists, while Dzialo led the charge with five goals.
Sam Preston had a solid day in the cage, as she stopped a single game career-high 12 shots.
Olivia Valdes had another strong outing in the midfield, as she collected a single game career-high eight draw controls.
The Basics
Score: Bryant 18,
Merrimack 10
Records: Merrimack (1-7, 1-5 NEC) | Bryant (2-2, 2-2 NEC)
How It Happened
- Valdes and the Warriors did an exceptional job to start the game and won seven straight draw controls in the first half, but Bryant turned it around and capitalized to take a 5-0 advantage in the opening 10 minutes.
- Dzialo found the hot hand after the fifth Bulldog goal and was able to bring the Warriors back. She got on the board at the 16:04 mark off an Ally DaCosta pass, but Bryant got it back just over a minute later.
- Dzialo turned momentum around again and scored two more in just over a minute to complete her hat trick and make it a 6-3 game with 12:21 to play.
- Bryant brought its lead to four again at 8:32, but Taylor Darrell got on the board with her first of the day 36 seconds later on a free position.
- The Bulldogs responded again at 4:55, but Dzialo answered at 3:44 off a great play with Catherine Mahanna.
- Bryant added another in the closing minute to claim a 9-5 lead at the break.
- The visitors padded their lead to open the second half, but then Bartlett took control of the game. The senior tallied her first at 22:37, then collected a pass from Natalie Calkins and scored on a sneaky low shot at 21:47 to make it a three-goal game.
- A Bulldog goal one minute later pushed the deficit to four, but Bartlett wasn't finished, as she put one home at 19:33 to complete the hat trick of her own.
- The following 11 minutes saw Bryant start to pull away, as it enjoyed a 5-0 run to push the lead to 16-8 before the closing eight minutes.
- Bartlett netted her fourth to stop the run on another DaCosta assist and Dzialo scored her fourth on a pass from Bartlett in the final five minutes, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.
Notes & Numbers
- The Warriors played a gritty second half and dominated Bryant with a 16-5 edge in ground balls.
- Calkins and DaCosta both tied Bartlett for the team-high in assists with two.
- Kelsey Daly caused a game-high three turnovers, which tied her single game career-high at the Division I level.
- Dzialo took over sole possession of first in the NEC in goals per game with 3.25 on the season.
- Shots (MER-BRY): 30-35 (23-30 SOG)
- Draw Controls (MER-BRY): 15-15 Ground Balls (MER-BRY): 27-21
- Turnovers (MER-BRY): 23-19 // Clears (MER-BRY): 17-21 // 20-26
Up Next
The Warriors head to Staten Island, N.Y. Saturday to battle NEC foe, Wagner. Draw control is slated for 1:00 pm.
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