LOWELL, Mass. – Despite sophomore Samantha Blair (West Islip, N.Y.) recording her first career hat-trick, the UMass Lowell women's lacrosse team fell 16-10 to the Bryant Bulldogs on Friday afternoon at Cushing Field.
 
"We played great team defense to start," stated head coach Lisa Miller. "On attack we were patient, working the clock and taking the shots we wanted in order to pick up some assisted goals. I think we keep getting better every game and I'm looking forward to the continued progress."
 
Bryant opened the scoring for both sides, picking up two goals in the first two minutes, but Blair made a cut around the net for a feed down the center to freshman Abby McLaughlin (Walpole, Mass.) for the River Hawks first goal of the game at 27:19.
 
The Bulldogs continued their attack on offense adding back-to-back goals from Alexa Weber, but Blair would add one of her own followed by senior Cameron McKelvin (Westminster, Md.) to put the home team within one at 22:04
 
Going a man-up at 17:01 the Bulldogs would tack on another goal from a free position opportunity by Caitlyn Breglia, but yet again Blair would jump out on offense picking up her second goal of the game, followed up by junior Hanna Rose's (Framingham, Mass.) fourth of the season to equalize the score at 5-5 with 4:04 left to play in the first half.
 
The visitors put up two more goals in the final minutes of the first half, but freshman Izzy Liquori (Agawam, Mass.) would flip it over the top to fellow classmate Anna Bauter (Dexter, N.Y.) who buried the shot for a one-point deficit heading into the half, 7-6.
 
Playing a man-down in the opening minutes of the second the River Hawks would look to Blair once again, receiving a pass from Rose to equalize the score, 7-7.
 
Bryant's Alexa Weber would notch two more of her own by 23:23 in the second, but McKelvin would tally her second of the game to bring the River Hawks within one at 15:39 in the second. Finding their footing, the Bulldogs would go on the attack posting three-straight goals over four minutes to jump out 12-8, but Liquori's ninth goal of the season would come at 10:32 to end the visitors run.
 
Blair would tally the River Hawks last goal of the contest at 7:20 to cut the gap 13-10, but the Bulldogs would add on three more before the clock ran out, ending the score 16-10.
 
Freshman midfielder Carolie Klim (Wrentham, Mass.) made her first start for the River Hawks in net, picking up seven saves, while Bryant's Kapoosuzian grabbed eight.

Up next the River Hawks will kick-off spring break with a trip to Iona on March 7, before heading to Marist for a 7 p.m. matchup