Highlights

Staten Island, NY – Shannon Sullivan scored a hat trick to lead the Bryant women's lacrosse team to a hard-fought 7-4 win over Wagner in a tight, defensive struggle at sun-splashed Hameline Field this afternoon.
 
With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 8-3 on the season and remain perfect in the Northeast Conference (NEC) with a 2-0 league mark while the Seahawks, who were coming off a 15-4 win over Central Connecticut on Friday, fall to 3-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
 
Both goalies delivered outstanding performances as Bryant's Sama Santeramo made 12 saves while Wagner senior Katie Ferraro (Owings Mill, MD/ McDonough) came up with 10 stops, one shy of the season-high 11 that she recorded at Temple (3/1). By saving 12 of Bryant's 22 shot attempts, Ferraro lowered her goals against average to 9.08 while increasing her save percentage to .464.
 
After surrendering three scores in the game's opening 6:18, the senior netminder allowed just four goals over the remaining 53:42 of the contest.
 
After falling behind by that early 3-0 count, which came on goals by Sullivan, Jess DeMeo and Catlin Brown, Wagner got on the board at the 19:43 mark of the first half as senior attacker Stephanie Peterson (Vernon, NJ/ Vernon Township) deposited a free position shot. With 15:50 left in the opening half, senior midfielder Shea Gegan (Belmar, NJ/ Manasquan) sank an unassisted score to draw the Seahawks to within one goal at 3-2.
 
Less than two minutes later, DeMeo countered for Bryant off of a Nicole Britton feed to make it 4-2 which is the way the score stood until junior attacker Olivia Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/ Lenape) buried a free position shot with 6:58 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 4-3 at the intermission.
 
Both defenses continued to hold the upper hand throughout a second half that did not feature its first goal until the 16:58 mark when Brown sank a free position shot to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 5-3. Following another 10:58 of scoreless lacrosse, Sullivan scored off of Britton's second helper to make it a 6-3 game with 6:00 left to play.
 
This combination struck again at the 2:55 mark when Britton delivered her third assist of the game, hitting a cutting Brown who converted her second goal, increasing the Bryant lead to 7-3. Seahawk senior attacker Kimmy Tumolo (Mullica Hill, NJ / Clearview) completed the day's scoring with a diving score in traffic with 2:13 to go, a tremendous individual effort, which fashioned the final score at 7-4.
 
The final statistics reflected just how tight this defensive-minded affair was between a pair of teams who have met in each of the last two NEC championship games.
 
The shots were dead even at 22-22, while Wagner held a 25-17 advantage in ground balls. Bryant, which won 7-of-13 draw controls, was 2-of-5 on the day in free-position shots while the Seahawks were hurt by going just 1-of-8 in this category.
 
This game was a physical battle throughout as the teams combined for 45 fouls and eight yellow cards.
 
Wagner now hits the road for two straight, traveling to Sacred Heart on Friday, April 15 for a 3:00 p.m. matchup with the Pioneers before squaring off at LIU Brooklyn on Sunday, April 17 in an 11:00 a.m. start.
 
Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@WagnerAthletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department and @WagnerWlax for information specific to the Seahawk women's lacrosse team.