Saturday, September 05, 2009

BULLDOGS NOTCH FIRST WIN OF SEASON IN HOME OPENER AGAINST LEHIGH, 3-1

Boxscore / Photo Gallery

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant University field hockey team took the field Saturday afternoon in its 2009 home opener against Lehigh University with something to prove and a debt to settle.

And after 70 minutes of stellar play, the Bulldogs (1-2) took their revenge on the visiting Mountain Hawks (0-3), completing a 3-1 victory at the Bryant Turf Complex to earn their first win of the 2009 season.

It was sweet revenge for a Bulldog team in just its second year of Division I competition, after the Mountain Hawks rolled past the Bulldogs, 4-0, in 2008.

Sophomore Courtney Landi (Kingston, N.Y.) got the scoring started just 2:49 into the contest, sending her second goal of the season past Lehigh netminder Jessica Miller to give the home side a 1-0 edge. The goal came less than a minute after a well-executed penalty corner missed just wide of the cage.

Aly Czerniak (Holyoke, Mass.) doubled the Bulldogs' lead in the 23rd minute, when a long pass from the backfield sprung junior Elise Boissoneau (Ashburnham, Mass.), who carried the ball upfield for a pass across the middle to Czerniak who hammered the shot home.

Senior captain and starting goalkeeper Kundayi Mawema (Harare, Zimbabwe) kept the Bulldog lead at two goals when she came up with a big save on a two-man Lehigh breakaway late in the first half. Mawema came out of the cage to make the sliding stop, taking the ball off the stick of forward Morgan Christopher.

The Bulldogs would take the 2-0 advantage into the half, and the Mountain Hawks would return to the field with a new goalie, Lilia Stefaniwsky, between the pipes.

Lehigh seemed to take the momentum to open the second frame, controlling most of the play through the first 15 minutes. Forward Kimberly Eng scored an unassisted goal on a high shot from 10 yards out 6:31 into the period to cut Bryant's lead in half, 2-1.

But the Bulldogs would seize back the all-important momentum in the latter half of the second period, as Boissoneau scored an unassisted goal of her own, her first of the season, from inside a scrum in front of the net. Senior captain Danielle Moody (Gorham, Maine) got the play started with a shot that was saved by Stefaniwsky, but the rebound was picked up quickly by Boissoneau and sent into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead that would eventually go final.

The Mountain Hawks outshot the Bulldogs, 19-12, on the day, putting eight of those shots on goal to Bryant's six. Stefaniwsky made all three saves for Lehigh, while Mawema collected seven in her first win of the year.

With the win, the Bulldogs move to 1-2 on the young season and will have a week off before next taking the field against Harvard on the road Saturday, Sept. 12. Game time is slated for 12:00 p.m.