Women's Lacrosse Drops NEC Tourney Game to Bryant
Blue Devils end the season with a 7-10 overall record
The Central Connecticut women's lacrosse team qualified for its second straight Northeast Conference Tournament in 2014 but fell in the quarterfinal round to top seed and host Bryant University on Friday afternoon, 13-7.
The loss gives the Blue Devils a final overall record of 7-10 under first year head coach Laura Campbell. Central was the fourth seed in the conference tournament.
Bryant took the erly 2-0 lead but the Blue Devils answered with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead with 18:59 on the clock. Senior Meaghan McCurry scored the first two goals of the game to tie it for Central. Senior Amanda Toke scored her first goal of the game to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game.
Bryant answered with three straight goals, including two from NEC Player of the Year Lisa Vendel, to take a 5-3 lead. Toke's second goal of the game came with 16 seconds left in the half and cut the Bryant lead to one. The Bulldogs answered quickly and took the 6-4 lead at halftime.
Central's junior goalkeeper Morgan Tullar, who was named the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year on Thursday night, made five stops before halftime.
Toke scored her third of the game, and 40th of the season, to cut the lead to 6-5. But the Bulldogs answered and scored three straight goals to push their lead to 9-5 with just under 18 minutes to play in the game.
Freshman Erin Dougherty scored her second goal of the season to make it 9-6, but Bryant answered again, making it 10-6 with 12:21 to play. Haley Bloom's fourth goal of the game for Bryant make it a four-goal game. But the Blue Devils would not go away as McCurry scored her third of the game to make it 10-7 less than a minute later.
Tullar finished the game with 10 saves, giving her a career-high 154 saves on the season. Toke finishes the season with 40 goals, the fourth-highest single season total in school history.
The Bulldogs scored the final three goals of the game to secure the 13-7 win. They advance to the championship game being played on Sunday in Smithfield, RI.